


Melancholy symptoms

by mangiscute



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety Attacks, Artist Reader, F/M, Female Reader, Hurt/Comfort, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, Luffy Being Luffy, Post-Time Skip, Reader-Insert, Sad attempt at writing action, Slow Burn, Some angst?, This is just for fun?, first time writing reader insert so sorry if it kind of sucks?, reader is insecure, reader is kind of self-destructive, some jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29172726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangiscute/pseuds/mangiscute
Summary: “Ok, so you’re saying that you guys ran into a witch.” You say slowly as you bring a hand out and touch your pointer finger. You try to lay everything out in order to understand better.Luffy and Zoro both nod.“She handed you three tone dials,” Middle finger next. They nod. “She said that out of the three, one holds the key to a shit ton of treasure,” You tap your ring finger. They nod again. “And Nami said that if you don’t come back with the key there’ll be grave consequences.” You tap your pinky. Both luffy and Zoro stare off sagely, thinking about the kinds of consequences that Nami would unleash on them. They nod resolutely.Or, the product of my tired mind and wishful thinking.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Reader
Comments: 32
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I may come back and edit this cause I'm just posting as is at the moment.  
> Please tell me if this isn't good or if it's a weird idea and I will take it down and actually consider my life choices, thank you:) 
> 
> I will think of a better name too:)

You swipe down for what feels like the millionth time. 

The disappointing letter C popping up again and again, and you sigh heavily. You let your head lull back on the wall you’re sitting against, it hitting a little harder than intended. 

The sun is beginning to set outside and you wonder why you’re even here for what feels like the trillionth time. Why this school? Why this major? What are you even working towards? Is this going to actually make you happy? 

You turn your head to look out the glass doors of the short hall you perched yourself in, it being quietest (although there aren’t many students walking around at this late an hour). You watch as the pink and orange clouds drift by in the cold fall sky and wonder why you couldn’t have been born as one. It seems like a peaceful alternative to what is your completely useless life. The coat you wear acts as a warm barrier from the hard carpeted ground furthering your detached attitude. A few small birds land on a bare tree branch and you think that a bird would have been just as nice. 

You sit for a few moments, staring. Thinking of nothing. 

After what feels like a good ten minutes you spare a glance at your phone and begrudgingly realize that your next class is going to start soon. 

But you’re exhausted. You had the morning shift today as well as having to cover for one of your coworkers. You could still feel an ache in your cheeks that your customary smile caused. Your classes started not thirty minutes after you got off and you had to jog across campus just to make it on time to your first class. 

You seriously debate on skipping this next one. But the thought that this is your last for the day propels you to heave another, heavier, sigh. This time, the air stuttering in your chest as though you’d just been crying.

You languidly stand and walk out to the main hall. And you stop.

You had just decided that you’d much rather just go home, not caring enough about anything at the moment, when there's a gust of air, and before you can even react, someone rams into you with such force that you’re knocked back, hitting the hard floor. The wind in your lungs being pushed out with a strained exhale on impact, the person landing on top of you.

You lay there coughing harshly, completely stunned at what just happened. Your eyes drift to the side and you see two people walking past you. They eye your position then turn to each other, whispering and quietly giggling. You blush at the implication and gather your wits. You scramble out from under the person feeling rightfully pissed and surprised.

“What the hell--”

But all your bravado and curses die out when you see the straw hat and the boy looking up, a wide toothy grin directed at you. The classic ‘shishishi’ of laughter dancing in the air around you. Your face contorts into extreme confusion, because this can’t be real right? 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to launch us into things?” A familiar head of green hair bonks Luffy across the head as he gets up from the ground. 

“My bad my bad.” He says, sounding very unapologetic. 

“Luffy???” You question, “Zoro???” Your voice is very unsure and just. So completely confused. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Luffy stands up too, dusting himself off as Zoro readjusts his katana at his side. You don’t answer back, not sure if what you’re seeing is real. 

The two people in front of you are definitely Luffy and Zoro though...just not animated. 

You lean back on your hands and look up at the two, mouth slightly agape.

“What the hell?” You mutter to yourself. The headache you had earlier in the day is starting to come back.

Luffy finally looks down at you and you can barely contain the squeak of fright escaping your mouth. You glance around to see if anyone is as taken aback as you, but there are only a few stragglers at this hour. All of them either having their noses buried in textbooks or typing something up on their laptops. No one seems to realize that two characters from one of your favorite animes suddenly popped into existence and ran you over.

“Is this them then?” 

You snap your gaze back at Zoro’s voice, he looks at you quizzically. 

“Must be. We literally fell on top of her.” Luffy says back, eyes never leaving you. He bends down and offers you a hand, to which you hesitantly take.

\---

Time felt like it was flying by so fast but your mind was taking ten times longer to process anything. 

“Long story short we need you to come back with us.” Zoro says as he crosses his arms.

You sat at a booth of the nearby taco bell. Luffy and Zoro sitting across from you, Luffy chomping on as much food as he could get.

Luffy mumbles something around his mouth full of food but you can’t understand anything he says.

“Ok, so you’re saying that you guys ran into a witch.” You say slowly as you bring a hand out and touch your pointer finger. You try to lay everything out in order to understand better.

Luffy and Zoro both nod.

“She handed you three tone dials,” Middle finger next. They nod. “She said that out of the three, one holds the key to a shit ton of treasure,” You tap your ring finger. They nod again. “And Nami said that if you don’t come back with the key there’ll grave consequences.” You tap your pinky. Both luffy and Zoro stare off sagely, thinking about the kinds of consequences that Nami would unleash on them. They nod resolutely.

You hold out both your hands, watching as you clench and unclench them over and over again, mind wandering a bit in exhaustion and confusion.

“That doesn’t make sense though?” You look up to them with an almost hopeless look. “How am I a key? That doesn’t make any sense.” 

At this, Luffy talks around his full mouth again. You, again, not understanding. Shaking your head, you look at Zoro, an eyebrow raised in question. He munches on his own taco before responding. 

“He said that the witch mentioned there was something special about them.”

 _Special?_

There’s a beat of silence before a ‘pfft’ of laughter cuts past your lips and you crack up, laughing heartily. 

Luffy and Zoro glance at each other. It’s their turn to be confused now.

“Special?” You wheeze out between laughter. You laugh harder and clench your stomach, tears beginning to appear at the crease of your eyes. 

After another minute or so of laughter, you finally start to calm down.

“Sorry, sorry,” You huff out, wiping at your eyes and pushing a few strands of hair behind your ears. You wave an apology, still clutching your stomach. 

“It’s just--I think you have the wrong key then.” You finish with a dejected smile. 

Luffy and Zoro don’t say anything and the silence carries on, causing you to feel a little uncomfortable. 

“Look, I’m pretty sure you have the wrong person.” You sigh, “I can’t really do anything, so.” You just shrug and slowly start to gather your things.

“I guess we could have gotten the wrong person.” Luffy mutters out, a hand brought to his chin in thought.

Zoro shrugs, “I guess.” 

“See?” You smile half heartedly, “Try the dial again.” You stand up and stare down at them, “It was nice meeting you guys. You can have the rest of my meal.” And then you just walk away.

You exit taco bell, the glass doors shutting behind you with a quiet _fwosh._

And you halt. 

Feet rooted to that weird yellow bumpy thing on the ground at every entrance.

What were you _doing_?????

You just walked away from one the most exciting things to happen in your life. Why didn’t you just lie and go along with them??? 

Your limbs are cold despite the coat and the extra layer under your pants. 

The fact of the matter was; you were scared. 

Terrified even.

It didn’t take long to think about what ifs. What if you did end up going with them and you ended up being the key? What then? And what if you weren’t? What then? What if they started hating you because you lied? You thought that that would crush your heart. Having these characters that you loved and admired so much become real and _hating_ you.

The worst one that popped into your head being; what if you died?

What if you got there and had to fight some powerful enemy? You knew there would definitely be some, because it’s One Piece. Obviously you were no match for even the weakest of enemies. You were just a simple college student that struggled to keep up.

_You could die here just the same._

That’s true, you think. There are just as bad of people here than there. They may not have some crazy devil fruit power, but there are people that have killed just as ruthlessly here.

The reality of the matter was that you really couldn’t do anything. And you knew it. You didn't want to be a burden for them.

Feeling very dismal and tired, you decide that the opportunity is gone now and to just leave before you collapse from what felt like the weight of the world.

You take one step though, and then there’s the gust of wind again and you feel the air being punched out of your lungs and then there you lay face down on the cement, Zoro and Luffy sitting on top of you, again. 

“Ha ha!” Luffy laughs joyously, “I knew it!” 

He and Zoro get up off of you and you can’t believe this is happening again. You stay on the ground, breathing coming quick, because--wait a minute, this can’t be real. 

_Me? Really?_ , you think in exasperation.

“You can’t get out of this now!” Luffy says in determination. And Zoro shakes his head, knowing that when his captain gets this way he can’t be stopped.

You know too, which is why you turn on you back quickly, raising your hands and beginning to protest.

“Luffy wait--” But Luffy just laughs and swings his arms to wrap around your waist. 

You’re momentarily stunned that his power still works even in your world.

Luffy yanks you to a standing position and pulls you toward him, Zoro being pulled right after, effectively squishing you between the two.

“Alright let’s go!” Luffy cheers as he pushes the tip of the tone dial. Your face heats up at the close proximity to them and your eyes flit to Zoro’s. 

He regards you for a moment before leaning closer and speaking quietly. The air around you is already beginning to whirl.

“Better hold on.”

Your eyes widen and you blush harder, but you do as he says and you wrap your arms around his waist tightly, heart beating in your ears. You swallow hard as your vision swims a bit, nerves nearly getting the best of you.

The wind is loud and picking up speed. You feel the ground leave your feet and you squeeze Zoro tighter, eyes shut just as tightly. 

And just as quickly everything escalated, everything stops.

The only difference you notice is the sound of water around you. 


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing you see when you crack an eye open is the world sideways and rocking gently. 

Staring at the blue sky, it takes you a second to register that you’re no longer outside the taco bell near the school. You abruptly sit up and whirl your head around, taking in everything. 

The Thousand Sunny.

You honestly couldn’t believe what you were seeing. How is this even possible? 

Your movements cause the people beneath you to grunt. Peering down in confusion, you see Luffy and Zoro strewn out under you. Turns out holding on was pointless.

You frantically scramble off of them, apologizing and feeling a little embarrassed.

“Why the hell do we keep doing that?” Zoro asks begrudgingly as he sits up. Luffy sits up as well, laughing brightly. 

Luffy’s wide animated grin is what causes you to finally notice something.

You twist around to look at the ship, your small group seems to have ended up on the main deck, green grass squishing under your feet. What was weird to you though, was that everything was animated. 

Alarmed, you quickly look down at your arms that were still covered by your heavy winter coat. Sure enough, your arms, legs, hair, everything was animated. You slowly grab at the skin at the top of your hand and pull. Fascinated that it still felt the same, just looked different.

You’re experimentally pulling at your cheeks as you turn to the other two, “Guys, I think I’m freaking out a little bit.” You say then let go, your cheeks instantly darkening in hue. You hadn’t realized your voice was quivering slightly.

Before they could even respond someone calls out from behind.

“Finally!” 

You turn quickly to see Nami gazing down at the three of you, arms crossed and scowling. You thought you couldn’t possibly be more stunned, but here you are. You wrap your arms around yourself in an attempt to comfort. Your body reacting negatively to the new place and situation.

“Where have you guys been?? It’s been hours!” She complains as she begins to make her way down to you three, not before leaning back and calling to everyone. You unconsciously start to sidle your way towards Zoro and Luffy, stopping to hover behind them, body gently shaking.

Zoro glances back at you, but doesn’t make any moves to push you away. 

Just as Nami makes it to the main deck everyone else practically bursts out from the kitchen and dining area. 

You see Brook exit first, Franky and Robin following close behind, chatting with two other women you don’t recognize. You choke a little once they come into full view. 

The first you notice being tall and fair skinned, wearing a long black flowing dress. The hemming decorated with intricate white thread. Her eyes are sharp and piercing with long lashes. lips perfectly full and red. Her long jet black hair gently blowing in the breeze. You note the simple black triangle tattoos on either side of her temples. On her hip, she wears a leather belt and pouch. And small hoop earrings dangling from her ears. Her eye color is what startles you the most, the starch white color clashing with her black pupils.

Your eyes dart over to the other new face. The other woman wearing gunmetal armor. Symbols that you don't recognize painted onto the chest plate. Her brown almond shape eyes looking coarse and cold, a scar made just on the high of her left cheek. Her shoulder length white hair pulled back in loose braids, contrasting beautifully with her brown skin. You eye the broad sword strapped to her back in awe.

They're beautiful.

You look down at your favorite oversized long sleeve shirt and worn jeans. You hadn’t really had much time nor the motivation that morning to actually get dressed up. You sort of wish that you had tried to look better, because you felt small compared to them now. 

Usopp and Chopper are talking animatedly to the two with stars in their eyes. And Sanji wasn’t any better. He pops in and out of view as he surrounds the three girls, heart eyes and all.

“Luffy!!” Usopp exclaims once he sees the other. “You have to see this!” He waves calling the other over.

Usopp turns to the tall black haired woman, “Can you do the thing please?” He asks in excitement, Chopper hopping up and down echoing his enthusiasm.

The woman chuckles, “Of course.” She says sweetly and Sanji swoons over her.

The woman snaps her fingers and a broomstick flicks into existence, floating a few feet in the air. 

Luffy gives an excited awestruck yell next to you. You see the familiar starry eyes pop out and you jump back a little, still not used to the whole ‘animated’ thing. He flings his arms to grab hold of the upper railing and shoots himself to get a closer look. Leaving you and Zoro behind. The others start to make their way down to the main deck. 

“Who’s this?” Nami smiles kindly as she walks over to you two. 

Zoro jabs a thumb in your direction, “This is…..ehh,” He looks back at you in question. 

You almost want to laugh, because how the hell had you not told them your name yet? You guess it’s because you already knew who they were so there wasn’t really any point in the conversation that an introduction was needed. 

Nami whacks Zoro across the head, brow twitching in annoyance.

“Ow what the hell was that for?” He rubs his head and glares at Nami. 

“You morons brought her here without even learning her name first?” Nami sighs in vexation. 

This time you actually laugh. This helps to ease some of your nerves.

“(y/n)” 

They both turn to you as you grin shyly.

Nami smiles kindly once again, “It’s nice to meet you, (y/n).” She turns to address the others. “Everyone! This is (y/n).” 

All eyes are now on you.

You feel yourself shrink under all of the attention. You can’t regress very far though, because Sanji makes a sudden cry and he rushes over to you twirling eagerly.

“Yet another beautiful lady staying with us!” He exclaims excitedly as he takes your hand.

A stunned blush spreads across your face, completely taken aback.

“Be-Beautiful?” You stutter out. 

You’re not used to this type of attention so it’s hard to believe what Sanji is saying. You know how he is, have watched hundreds of episodes with him and his courtly antics. Even still, it’s hard to believe. 

“Oi, leave her alone shittybrow.” Zoro intervenes with a kick to Sanji’s face, sending him flying. It doesn't take very long for Sanji to come veering back in retaliation muttering a ‘fucking marimo’.

It’s weird how easy it is for you to watch them bicker, already used to it. 

Nami slithers over to you and wraps an arm around your shoulders, startling you. You look at her to see the classic dollars signs for eyes. You want to pull back, but Nami has you anchored to her side, a quiet ‘hehehe’ of laughter coming from her. 

Something suddenly flies past the two of you and you look up to the sky to see the tall black haired woman spiraling higher and higher up. 

“Woah” You breath out dumbfounded. 

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper are all jumping up and down whooping and hollering playfully when the others finally make it to you.

“It’s nice to meet you (y/n), I’m Robin.” Robin gives a small smile and wave.

“And I’m,” Franky strikes a pose. “Franky!” He says with an ‘Ow!’ for emphasis. You are again surprised by how big he is. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Aiko.” The one in the armor holds out her hand for you to shake. Her coarse eyes crinkle slightly as she smiles. You take it and utter a ‘nice to meet you too.’ giving her a shy smile. 

“Brook here!” He salutes with a ‘Yohohoho’ before bending down to you. “May I see your--” 

Nami pushes his head away with a groan.

You’re a little surprised at how well you’re taking all of this. Granted, you were still slightly shaking from all this newness, you weren’t freaking out how you thought you would be. Maybe it just hasn’t registered fully yet and that would come later on in the night. You think that if present you went back in time to this morning to tell yourself that you’d be whisked away by some of your favorite characters you would have scoffed and continued to get ready for work.

_Work!_

You were definitely going to be fired for not showing up tomorrow, but that’s besides the point.

“So what’s _your_ specialty?” 

Nami talking snaps you out of your thoughts. You glance at her not really catching what she just said.

“Specialty?” You question.

“Yeah, Aiko is a Warrior where she comes from and,” Nami points above her head. “Emory up there is a Witch.”

_Right._

Your eyes dart between everyone's expectant stares, before avoiding them pathetically. 

“Uhm, I can’t really do anything.” You shrug, repressing the urge to apologize. 

And now that you think about it maybe you are freaking out a little bit, because your vision starts to spin slowly, your arms and legs begin to feel tingly. You wrap your arms tightly around your stomach and you can’t tell if you’re feeling ill because of the swaying ship or the anxiety melting over your body. Maybe it's both. But that doesn’t really matter right now, because you need to leave. 

“Uhm, I really need to use the bathroom so,” You don’t wait for anyone to respond and you nearly bolt to the nearest door, not caring where it leads as long as you can be alone for a few moments. 

Nami looks back at the others with a puzzled look, Sanji and Zoro stopping their bickering when they hear the door slam shut.

Nami stares at the door you just went through, her hand on her chin in thought, remembering the pale look on your face.

You’ve been gone for around 10 minutes. Everyone, already having disbursed when Sanji suggested they have a huge feast as a welcome. They were all currently preparing as the sun began to slowly set over the horizon.

“Oi, Zoro.” Nami calls to the other, who was setting up chairs around the large table they brought out to use. 

He walks over, “What do you want?” He grunts out.

“Go see if she’s okay.” 

“What, why me?” 

“Because I have a feeling new people make her uncomfortable.” Nami explains simply.

“Why not get Luffy to do it?” Zoro crosses his arms.

“Because you at least have a little bit of tact.” She motions for him to move along.

Zoro grumbles but goes anyway.

What in the actual hell were you doing??

You sniffle quietly in the dark room and adjust your arms that are wrapped around your knees. You hadn’t realized that your nails dug deeply into your forearms until you lift your hands to shift. 

You should have known this would happen. 

_So embarrassing._ You think, letting a heavy sigh. 

When you first ran in you went through the usual motions. The crying came first. Tears started to stream down your face the moment you set foot in the room, lip jutting out and quivering as you tried to contain you're sobs. You couldn’t help it. Walking over to the far wall, you rip you jacket and backpack off (you're surprised you still have it with you), everything feeling far too hot and restrictive for the bulky clothing. You sit down, body beginning to shake almost violently. You run your fingers aggressively through your hair, throat closing up as you try to suppress the urge to throw up. You sat there quietly crying, and trying to control your breathing. Your nails dragging down the skin of your forearms as you chant, _it'sokaycalmdownit'sokaycalmdown..._ frantically in your mind.

It feels like an eternity, but it’s only been a few minutes once that you realize that you hadn’t even entered the bathroom, but the men's quarters of the ship. You stare absentmindedly at one of the various hammocks swaying with the ship, mind and body completely drained as you slowly begin to calm down. 

There’s a sudden click as the door opens and you jump at the noise, the soft light of the sun fills the room. 

Not wanting to deal with the coming questions you drop your head back on your arms, staying quiet. The tips of your ears warm in embarrassment.

You hear someone walking and then coming to a stop right in front of you making your body stiffen.

“Oi.” 

_Oh god._

You squeeze your eyes shut. Out of all the people in the world (or two I guess) why’d it have to be Zoro?

See, it’s not that you thought Zoro was a bad person, it was just that you were scared he would think you were weak. Which would honestly make sense considering the position you were in right now. 

Zoro looks down at you, seeing you tense after he spoke. He hears a stifled sniffle and sighs. 

He squats down and looks at the top of your head, “Hey,” He says a bit softer this time. He reaches a hand to pat the top of your head and you flinch away at the contact.

Zoro retracts his hand in favor of resting his forearms on his knees.

“You okay?” His voice becomes quieter and you’re a little surprised at this tender side of him. 

“Yeah,” You sound hoarse so you clear your throat, “Yeah, this happens a lot so it’s nothing unusual.” You don’t lift your head to address the other.

It’s silent for a few passing moments.

“Okay, well dinner is going to be done in a little bit.” Zoro says simply as he stands back up. You’re grateful for him not prying. 

Your body finally relaxes when the door shuts.

Zoro walks out to see everyone watching him. 

“What?” He asks confused.

“Is she alright?” Nami says, exasperated. 

Zoro sighs, “Yeah, she said this happens all the time.” 

Chopper looks up between the two curiously, having not been paying attention when you ran off. 

“What’s wrong?” He questions.

Nami only shrugs, but Zoro answers.

“She was crying and shaking mostly. I tried touching her head but she flinched away.” 

Chopper listens, nodding his head.

“Hold on, I may have something to help her.” He says as he scurries off in the direction of the infirmary.

After a few more silent minutes you’re able to make yourself stand slowly, legs wobbling slightly. Your exhaustion making you care less and less about anything each passing second. The only thing you want at the moment is to go home and collapse on your bed.

You’re making your way to the door and mustering up all your energy to face everyone when the door pops open again, this time however it’s Chopper that enters.

“How are you feeling?” 

You’re not entirely surprised by the question. Of course Chopper would try to help in any way he could. Your heart softens in gratitude, but you try to deflect the attention.

“I’m fine.” You say, forcing a smile. 

Chopper frowns his sympathy, “You look exhausted.” 

Your eyebrows raise somehow still surprised at his words. You feel exhausted sure, but you didn’t realize it was that noticeable. Your legs finally give in and you sit down.

“That noticeable, huh?” 

Chopper comes and sits next to you. You side eye him, thinking him cute.

“Here,” He reaches out his hoof and opens it to two small pills. “these will help with your anxiety.”

You stare wide-eyed at the two small pills. Chopper raises his hoof again, more insistent, and you finally take them.

“They’ll probably make you tired the first couple of days, maybe even give you a slight headache, but they’ll help to calm you.” He explains. 

You stare at them in your hand almost wanting to cry again. You’ve never actually been given medication for your anxiety, the appointments and medicine being too expensive.

Chopper holds up a cup of water to you just then, giving you a smile. 

“Here.”

You take the cup and gulp down the medicine gratefully. 

“Thanks, Chopper.” You turn to him once you’ve finished the cup and you remember something.

“You’re by far the best doctor I’ve ever had.” You praise him with a pat on his head.

Chopper instantly gushes, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, trying to wave off your compliment. 

“It’s nothing, really.” 

You smile fondly at him and begin to stand up.

“Let’s go,” You hold out your hand. “Don’t want to keep everyone waiting for us.” 

“No we don’t.” He says as he gleefully grabs your hand.

You’re glad no one really pays you mind when you and Chopper exit the men’s quarters. You’re not too keen on having everyone’s attention again. 

Dinner starts soon after, Sanji laying out the final few dishes.

You take a seat next to Zoro, his calm and nonchalant aura making you naturally gravitate towards him. 

Everything is going well. The medicine helps you to relax a little more.

Sanji sets a bowl of soup in front of you, and you notice that it’s not any of the food that’s on the table. You look up at him, confused. He smiles warmly down to you.

“This won’t upset your stomach.” He explains kindly. He sets down a cup of ice water next to it. 

“Thank you.” You mumble. And give him a small smile, grateful for his thoughtfulness. He instantly drops the cool demeanor and swoons at your thanks, before going to help serve the other woman. You chuckle softly at the cook.

Zoro side eyes you as he takes a swig of beer.

He leans over a bit, "You seem better."

You slouch a bit under his attention, "Yeah, Chopper came and gave me some medicine to help calm me down." You smile, remembering his embarrassment at your praise. 

You glance around the table as you spoon the soup slowly into your mouth. Everyone seems to be having a good time, Luffy having an even grander time. Him happily eating all the meat he could grab. 

The one named Emory grabs your attention though. You briefly see a glimpse of irritation on her face as she averts her gaze from you when you catch her staring. She turns and laughs alongside Aiko at something Franky says. 

You’re confused, because what have you done to warrant that look? You haven’t even really had an actual conversation with her. You try to push it to the back of your head because Sanji and Zoro are suddenly bickering again next to you. 

“You just fucking tripped me you dumbass!”

“It’s your fault you walked right into my foot.”

“You stuck it there intentionally!”

Zoro raises the mug of beer to his lips and shrugs, not even denying Sanji’s claim.

You laugh along with the others as Sanji grabs the collar of Zoro’s shirt, feeling relief for the first time today in the relaxing air that the straw hat crew has created.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally what is happening?

You jolt awake suddenly. Your heart beating in your ears, the blankets covering you making you way too hot. Kicking them off, you sit up glancing around the unfamiliar room. You’d nearly forgotten all that had happened the previous day. 

Robin and Nami sleep soundly in their beds, Emory and Aiko lying to your left on their own futons that were set out for the three of you. The room is quiet except for some soft breathing and the creaking of the ship. 

You’re breathing is still fast, sweat making your clothes stick to your skin. You think that you must have had a nightmare, but when waking you had forgotten what it was about, the only remnants of the dream being the cold chill down your spine and the churning in your stomach. 

The gentle swaying of the ship doesn’t help to sooth your ill feeling, and it isn’t long before you have a hand over your mouth, quietly rushing out the door. You end up leaning over the rail of the back deck, throwing up what little food you ate earlier. 

After a few more waves of nausea, you cough harshly, throat feeling raw. Smacking your lips, you try to spit as much of the taste as you can out of your mouth before shakily sliding back safely to the deck. You crouch down, a hand holding on to the railing to steady yourself, the other clutching your stomach. You wipe the corners of your eyes where tears had appeared. 

Staring past the railing, you watch as the pitch black water shimmers under the glow of moonlight, feeling miserable.

Why was this happening? 

Usually when you imagined yourself going on some grand adventure, you were heroic and not afraid of anything. You imagined yourself to be resourceful and dependable. Some great and amazing protagonist where every villain would know your name and fear it. Where people would talk about you and feel safe just knowing you were there. 

Someone strong. Not someone as pathetic as this.

You groan at your entire existence.

Why were you like this?

You should have been more realistic with your imaginings. Of course you would be this way. It’s not like coming to some new place would immediately change who you are. 

Anger swells in your chest and you clutch at the railing a bit tighter. You have the sudden and overwhelming urge to throw or punch something. 

Why were you like this?? 

_Why can’t I just be normal like everyone else?_

A glass of water being pushed into your face is what takes you from your thoughts, making you jump in surprise. You grab at the glass instinctively before looking up to see who it is. 

“Are you always this jumpy?” Zoro asks as he peers down at you.

You barely stop yourself from pinching the bridge of your nose, feeling disgruntled. This definitely furthers the ‘weak’ agenda in Zoro’s eyes. You absently think to yourself then that nobody has seen you this vulnerable in years, let alone two times in one day. 

Zoro moves to sit at the base of the mast, your eyes follow him, not answering his question. Instead, you drink some of the water, swishing it around before bending over the rail to spit it into the ocean. You drink the rest, the cool water soothing your raw throat. 

“Thank you.” You mutter as you wipe the corner of your mouth. “And no, it’s just been...a weird day.”

Zoro only hums. He lays his head back on the mast and shuts his eyes. The silence that comes after would be deafening if it weren’t for the sloshing of waves up against the sides of the ship. The moonlight shines brightly to the point that a light isn’t needed, everything illuminated in a bluish-grey glow. The multitude of stars splatter themselves across the sky in a way that you don’t recognize any constellations. 

Finding yourself not really wanting to go back to bed, you gaze at the others relaxed face, the moon highlighting the highs of his cheeks drawing your eyes to his lashes and the scar running down his left eye. Your stomach swarms but not as it did earlier.

Admittedly, you had a slight infatuation for the other. But that was back in your world where everything about this place was fake, just an animation. But It’s different here, because Zoro sits right there, completely real. You suppose that it stood to reason that your admiration for the other would carry over. You just hadn’t thought that you would ever have to deal with your feelings in front of the real thing.

You eye the other warily now.

“How’d you know I was up here?” You ask, partly curious but mostly you’re just trying to take your mind from your thoughts. 

He cracks his good eye open and looks at you before closing it again, “Ended up falling asleep here and heard everything.” He says with a yawn. “Decided to get you a glass of water."

You huff out a laugh. That definitely seems like something Zoro would do.

“Sorry I woke you up.” You apologize, rubbing your neck awkwardly.

Zoro just grunts and waves it off, going quiet again. 

You let the silence linger for a few minutes. Letting the cool night air calm your ill feeling. In these moments you become aware that you’re homesick. The thought of just wanting to lay in your own bed popping up for what felt like the millionth time, causing you to feel a little sad. At the same time you remember the comfortable and fun atmosphere at dinner and you find yourself not wanting to leave either. These thoughts twist together as you create a sort of pros and cons list in your head.

“I’m thinking of leaving.” You say suddenly. You blink, surprised that you voice your thoughts.

Zoro opens his good eye again, breathing out and bringing his arms up to lay his head on, adjusting to a more comfortable position. 

“You _can_ leave if you want to,” He glances at you. “It’s not like we’re holding you hostage.”

You laugh a bit dejectedly, “Yeah, I know.” You shift to lay down and look at the stars, your stomach not liking the new position. You breathe deeply, trying to calm down. 

“I want to go home, but I also don’t want to.”

Zoro sighs, “Well I can’t answer that for you, if that’s what you’re wanting.” He says bluntly.

The corners of your mouth twitch upwards slightly, “I know.” You say, not even phased by his bluntness.

“Nami has all the tone dials.” Zoro adds after a moment, “They're locked away with her other treasure.”

You laugh, then cover your mouth thinking you're being too loud, “How the hell am I supposed to break in there?” You side eye him, “I’m not looking to die right now.”

That makes Zoro huff out a laugh, and you revel in the small success of having caused it.

You both lapse into silence again, Zoro continuously becoming slightly more curious.

“What’s really stopping you?” He questions finally, “You know Nami won’t actually try to keep you here, right?.” 

You smile to yourself, thankful for Zoro’s helpfulness.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking of the pros and cons.” 

He looks at you curiously, “Which are?” 

You sigh, “Pro number one: in my world your crew,” You gesture with your arms widely, “This place-- Is all a t.v. show.” 

You turn to Zoro, watching his brows as they furrow in confusion. He doesn't say anything though, and you press on.

“So I know you guys, or I assume I do?” You momentarily think that maybe nothing is the same here as it is in the show. “Anyways, I liked you guys, you were so cool and funny and just seemed like great people to be around. And now, meeting you all in real life and seeing that you’re all even better in person, I like you guys even more.” You turn to lay on your side, “So I don’t really want to leave.” You watch for Zoro’s reaction.

He’s looking up at the stars now, lost in thought.

“So that’s why you knew our names when we first met.” He says finally.

You nod expecting a little more, but Zoro brushes it aside.

“Ok, and con?” 

You lay back again to look at the sky, “First con is: I don’t think I’m the key. I don’t have anything special about me, and I can’t do much. So I’m probably going to be a bigger burden to you all than of any help.” You pause a beat, “I don’t want to be more of a burden than I’ve already been.”

You both are quiet again, and you think of how many times you’ve both let the silence sit. 

“Who says you’ve been a burden?” 

You shoot your gaze to Zoro, taken aback. You both look at each other for a long moment.

You thought that that was just a given, something as simple as a fact. Hadn’t you been an annoyance? No one wants to deal with someone who has an anxiety attack nearly every second of the day. But looking at Zoro’s serious face you think that maybe you were just overthinking again. You’re not sure what to say. 

You open and close your mouth for some reason trying to argue against the other, but ultimately just end up closing it and exhaling. You look back up frowning to yourself and finding the sky very entertaining at the moment. 

Zoro makes a noise as though to say ‘that’s what I thought’. 

“What’re the other pros?”

“Mmm,” You hesitate a moment, because this ones too much. But Zoro’s looking at you expectantly, and you figure ‘hey I already know he doesn’t feel the same way so why not?’.

“I get to see you.” You state, and you think that that sounds a lot cheesier said out loud than in your head. 

“Huh?” 

Maybe it’s the night sky, and the stars you don’t recognize. Or maybe it’s because you feel like you’ve been kicked to the curb a few too many times today, but you feel that you have nothing to lose.

“Yup.” You push yourself to a sitting position and wrap your arms loosely around your knees, leaning back into the railing. You can’t bring yourself to meet his eyes though.

“That’s also because I’ve known about you for a while, I’ve grown to have a sort of infatuation for you.” Your cheeks are burning, but you press on. “You could say that I like you, I guess. So I don’t want to leave just yet.”

This time the silence carries on for far longer than you’re comfortable with. Regret begins seeping into your chest when Zoro speaks up.

“And con?” 

You’re not entirely surprised that the subject got brushed off.

You shrug, “That I have feelings for you, but you don’t feel the same?” 

_God, you’re pathetic._

Zoro is quiet again and you don’t really blame him. You think that you wouldn’t know how to answer something like that either.

“Look, I don’t know why I just told you that. You honestly don’t have to feel a responsibility to answer to any of that.” You say, finally looking at him. 

Zoro studies you for a beat before nodding, effectively bringing the subject to a close in your book.

“What about me?” 

You and Zoro start at the sound of a new voice and Luffy comes Jumping down from the top of the mast, causing the boat to creak on impact.

“Luffy??” You and Zoro exclaim (but quietly cause people are still sleeping) completely taken aback. He just laughs ‘shishishi’ in answer.

“Where did you even come from?” You ask, startled.

“The kitchen!” He grins widely and steps closer to you.

(This is where you imagine Luffy lurking through the cupboards for a midnight snack, only to frantically hide because Zoro walks in to fill a glass with water. He gets curious and follows, ending up hearing the whole conversation, leading to him appearing now and with a plan slowly forming in his head.)

You stop for a moment, then, “Did you just hear everything?” You realize a little in horror. 

Luffy squats in front of you and leans so far in you have to lean back, head bumping into the railing. Your cheeks immediately flame with the close proximity. 

“What about me?” He repeats instead.

You push a hand against his chest, feeling flustered and confused, “What do you mean ‘what about you’?” 

“How do you feel about me?” He clarifies, wide playful eyes never leaving your face.

You look at him momentarily stunned, his breaths mingling with yours.

“Wha--What are you talking about?” You ask, perplexed by his question. Your face is burning and you can’t seem to bring yourself to meet his eyes again.

Luffy brings a hand up to cup your cheek though, causing you to snap your gaze to look at him, completely dumbfounded by what was happening.

Your breath hitches in your throat when you realize Luffy leaning in. 

The moment is shattered by Zoro hitting Luffy on the head, making him fall away from you. 

“Dammit Zoro.” He says rubbing his head, sounding slightly irritated, but you see a small grin on his face. 

Zoro just wraps an arm around him, dragging him towards the stairs, grumbling, “Time for bed now.”

They leave, luffy putting up a small fight but ultimately lets the other drag him away.

Leaving you feeling nonplussed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> basically writing out of my ass now so *shrugs*

You could tell the sun was rising. The light glowing softly through your closed eyes. 

After Zoro and Luffy left, you had sat in the same spot for a time, trying to gather your thoughts. You ultimately decided to try and go back to bed because your head was beginning to hurt. So you went to the bathroom and brushed your teeth again, then got back in bed, trying to make yourself sleep. 

Which didn’t end up working because you could tell it was morning and you hadn’t slept a wink. You were too busy tossing and turning throughout the night. Mind full of last night's conversation, and trying to convince yourself that everything would be fine. 

It should be. You’ve gone through something like this before. Although you hadn’t told the person you liked them, they just ended up dating one of your friends so you had to try to hide your feelings in order to not make things weird. Picking friendship over whatever you felt for them. Which worked fairly well if you said so yourself. You were all still good friends and your feelings eventually simmered down to a dull and worn out feeling. 

You could do that again, couldn’t you? You didn’t see why you couldn’t. It’s not like Zoro feels the same anyways, so you decide to go that route and try to act as normal. Or as normal as you could get. 

_ Normal _ .

You begrudgingly sit up and rub at your tired eyes, knowing that there would definitely be dark circles under them. Head feeling heavy with lack of sleep, you decide to get up, figuring that you won’t get anymore sleep. 

Walking out of the room, you instantly squeeze your eyes shut under the bright sun. A blue sky on full display, wispy clouds drifting by gently. You rub your eyes to get rid of the stinging tears at the corners before stretching briefly. You then make your way to the bathroom to brush your teeth and try to do something about your mess of hair. 

Once finished, you step out to see a billowing cloud of smoke rising from the kitchen chimney. Assuming Sanji was already up, you begin to walk up the steps towards the kitchen. When you notice Robin up by the small garden and Nami’s orange trees, peacefully reading a book. You both make eye contact and she waves to you. You smile back shyly, marveling at how effortlessly beautiful she is this early in the morning.

The first thing you see when entering the kitchen is Sanji standing in front of the stove, softly humming to himself as he flips a few pancakes. 

You quietly walk to sit at the table, sitting on the very end of the bench and resting your chin on a hand to watch as he works. 

“Oh, (y/n)-chan!” He sings songs when he takes notice of you, “Good morning! How do you like your eggs?” 

You’re grateful to see that he seems more calm in the mornings, your headache making you not ready for any loud noises. 

“I’m alright with whichever.” You reply with a yawn.

He smiles at you, “Want anything to drink? I can make you some tea or get you a glass of water if you prefer.” He sets down his spatula and turns to open a cupboard. 

You start to stand, waving your hand, “No, it’s alright,” You glide over to him taking the mug from his hands. “I can get it myself. I don’t want to interfere with your work.” You smile softly at him.

He clutches his heart dramatically, “What did I do to deserve such kindness?” Making you huff a laugh at his theatrics. 

Cutting the dramatics, he gently takes the mug from your hands, “Honestly, I don’t mind. I would love to serve you.” He says courteously. 

He smiles sweetly down at you and you don’t know why your ears are burning.

“Um--Uhm, alright.” You stutter embarrassingly. “Tea sounds nice.”

He nods and turns to pull out a kettle, and you go back to where you were sitting and watch.

The insistent whistle of the kettle pulls you out of your daze, Sanji’s movements having put you in a dozing trance. It’s nice. Sitting here in companionable silence as Sanji moves around the kitchen. The quiet clinks of utensils and sizzling of food combined with the sweet wafting smell of pancakes makes you feel at ease. 

Sanji sets the steaming mug in front of you and you mumble a thank you. Taking a tentative sip, your eyes widen.

“This is amazing!” You can’t help but blurt out. You’re having a hard time describing the taste, but that doesn’t stop you from taking another sip, this time burning your tongue on the hot water. You make a pained noise.

Sanji chuckles, “Don’t burn your tongue.” 

You just take another sip, the warm flavorful tea soothing over everything. You hum contentedly. 

Time goes by, finishing your drink you offer to help set the table. Sanji protests that you don’t need to, but you insist. After setting out all the plates and silverware you take a step back looking at your work, suddenly remember something you wanted to ask.

“Do you think Chopper has medicine for headaches?” You question the other.

Sanji stops stirring to tape his chin in thought, “I think he has some in his medicine cabinet,” He points to a door just past the table.

You begin to wring your hands nervously, “Do you think he’d mind if I took some?”

“Of course not,” Sanji says kindly. “I think it’s the jar with the blue label, but I’m pretty sure there’s also a description and instructions on it as well.”

You nod and timidly walk over to the door.

“Let me know if you need help.” 

You nod again, feeling overwhelmingly grateful for Sanji’s kind heart.

It takes you a minute to find the right jar, not wanting to accidentally take anything you aren’t supposed to. Once you find the right one, you make your way back to the kitchen with pills in hand. 

You stop in your tracks when you see the familiar head of green hair, a nervous chill running down your spin. You didn’t feel nervous because of how you felt for the other, but more because of what you said the night before. Maybe coming to their world really did change you a little bit, because you think you temporarily went insane when you said those things. To make things worse, Zoro decided to sit next to where you were sitting previously.

Sanji goes to the table with two plates of pancakes and sees you standing at the entrance to the infirmary.

“Did you find them?” He asks, causing Zoro to look over. You both make eye contact.

_ Benormalbenormalbenormalbenormal _

You try your best to walk as nonchalantly back over to your spot as you can.

“Yup, thank you for helping me.” You say sweetly as you sit down next to Zoro. 

Sanji becomes giddy at your thanks and basically floats himself back behind the counter. 

Zoro takes this chance to subtly lean over to you, your heart beating loudly in your ears.

“Did you get  _ any _ sleep last night?” He asks, pointing at the circles under your eyes.

You scowl at him, but you don’t say anything. It’s not like your sleeplessness was necessarily his fault. It was your running mouth and overthinking mind.

Zoro sighs when seeing your scowl, “About last night,”

You momentarily panic, nervously glancing over to him, hands beginning to rub together between your thighs.

Sanji appears just then, tea kettle in hand, “Here ya go my lovely~” He says, voice melodic. You’re quick to turn to him, busying yourself by holding the mug for him and thanking him. 

Once he walks away you pop the pills in your mouth and swallow them along with a swig of tea, burning your tongue again. You make another pained noise, almost spilling the mug all over yourself. Zoro quickly grabs hold of it, muttering a frantic ‘shit!’.

Setting down the mug, he looks at you and sighs again, “Listen,”

You immediately hold up a hand to stop him, “I--I already told you that you don’t have to feel any kind of responsibility to say anything.” You say a bit frantic, because maybe you’re just trying to avoid the eventual rejection.

Zoro is about to say something else, but Franky enters the room with brook close behind. He cheerily waves, saying ‘good morning’ and sits next to Zoro, who grumbles, irritated at all the disruptions. Brook, taking a seat opposite of the other.

Usopp, Chopper and Luffy come shortly after, causing a ruckus to Sanji about breakfast. Robin, Nami, Aiko, and Emory follow close behind. 

To your surprise Emory comes hopping up to Zoro and grabs at his arm, giving it a tug. Everyone watches, also surprised by the two. 

“Zoro~” She whines. 

You hadn’t realized how close they had gotten. Or you thought they had, because Zoro takes his arm out of her grasp only to have her take hold of it again. 

He sighs, clearly annoyed, “What?” 

“I wanted to sit next to you.” She juts out her lip, briefly glancing down her nose at you. You furrow your brow in confusion. 

“There’s not enough room, sit next to Usopp.” He tries to take his arm away again.

“I’ll make some room then.” She says sweetly. Then with a flick of her wrist the entire bench that you, Zoro, and Franky are sitting on jerks violently to the right. Making you all lurch to the left, and causing you to fall completely off the end of the bench with an ‘oof’. 

Everyone stares down at you concerned, as you rub at the elbow you landed on. Some even stand to attempt to help you up. 

Zoro reaches out his hand to help just as Emory pops up by your side.  
“Are you okay?” Voice full of concern. She helps you to your feet. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, I’m sorry.” She apologizes. 

Your eyes flit around the room, everyone staring at you with mild concern. 

“Ahm--I’m fine--It’s alright,” You look at Zoro, who still has his hand extended. “I can, um,” You pull away from her and walk around the table. “I’ll move. It’s fine.” You take a seat next to robin, now sitting directly across from Zoro. You both make eye contact again, but you quickly avert your gaze, feeling embarrassed. 

“I really am sorry.” Emory reiterates, “I was just having some fun is all.” She says innocently. 

“It’s fine.” You smile kindly at her. She takes your seat and immediately clings onto Zoro again with him trying to pry her off. 

“Here (y/n), this should help the swelling on your elbow.” You look to your right to see Chopper holding out a cloth with ice wrapped inside. You take the cloth, giving him your sweetest smile.

“Thank you, Mr. Doctor.”

He instantly blushes cutely, arms waving, gushing with happiness. He goes back to his spot. The pain in your elbow was minimal at best but you didn’t want to make the other think his efforts were wasted, so you apply the cloth to your elbow. 

You slouch a little bit, feeling disgruntled for some reason.

You feel a hand gently rubbing up and down your back and you glance to see Robin looking at you, propping her cheek in her other hand.

“Okay?” She asks simply.

You hum your answer, The warm hand on your back is soothing and you almost want to lean your head on her shoulder to rest.

Everyone goes back to eating and chatting as the morning passes.

“How far are we from the island, Nami?” Usopp pipes up over everyone’s chatter.

“From the nearest island, it’s about a day and half away. From Ketsueki?” She makes a noise in thought, “Mmm, about a month or so, depending on the weather.”

Aiko is the first to speak, “What is Kezu--Kesue,”

“Ketsueki,” She corrects with a friendly smile. “It’s the Island with unimaginable treasure.” She claps her hands together joyously, dollar signs practically falling from her ears. 

Aiko stares at her, clearly scared of the others' obsession. She laughs awkwardly.

“That’s good, I need to do some shopping,” Sanji leans back against the wall, arms crossed. “Cause  _ someone  _ keeps stealing all the food at night.” He pointedly looks at Luffy, who doesn’t pay him any mind and continues to eat heartily.

Nami claps cheerily, “Then it’s decided! You all go grocery shopping while Robin, Emory, Aiko, (y/n), and I go clothes shopping!”

“Clothes shopping?” Aiko questions, and Nami nods happily, “I don’t need clothes though?” She looks down at the grey tunic and trousers she usually wears under her armor.

“You’ll all need to fit in here, we don’t want anyone else who's looking for the treasure to catch wind of you three.” Nami points out.

“Or else they might kidnap you to get the treasure, then possibly kill you.” Robin helpfully adds on as she casually takes a drink of her coffee.

You smirk, trying to suppress your laugh at Robin's familiar morbidness, while Usopp and Chopper chastise her. 

You’re eating the last of your second pancake when Nami turns to look at you, “So (y/n), I haven’t been able to talk to you quite yet. What’s your world like?”

“Uhm,” You aren’t too sure how to answer. The first word to come to mind being ‘boring’. “It’s--It’s there.” You shrug. 

Nami chuckles, “Well anyone special to you there?” She asks with a gossipy air around her. 

You instantly shrink, wanting to simultaneously groan and scream. How is it that even here you get asked this question (because it’s a fanfic and I gotta do what I gotta)? You remember, not too pleasantly, all the family gatherings that you had to answer ‘No, Auntie, I don’t have a significant other at the moment’. 

“Ahhh,” You draw out the sound with an awkward chuckle, “No one, other than my family.” You finish.

“Really? No significant other?” Nami sounds astonished. A typical response you get, which you don’t understand because it’s obvious to you why no one’s ever wanted to date you.

“That’s probably cause she likes Zoro.” Luffy mumbles nonchalantly around his food.

There’s the clatter of silverware as everyone halts to stare at you. Luffy just keeps eating as usual.

You drop the cloth Chopper gave you, completely stunned by what came out of Luffy’s mouth. Your eyes go wide in horror as you dart your head to look at everyone looking at you, face going hot. You clench your teeth and glare at the Captain. If he were sitting near you, you would have stomped on his foot in revenge. You side eye Zoro, only to see him also glaring at his Captain.

Emory’s starch white eyes quite nearly piercing your soul with intensity. 

Sanji lets out a wail in despair and runs up to you, clutching your hands in his. 

“Say it ain’t so (y/n)-chan!!” He looks at you with pleading eyes. “You can’t like a complete moron like him!” 

Zoro lets out an aggravated ‘Hey!’ in protest.

Luffy laughs heartily, “It’s true! But I’ve decided that I’m going to win her over!” Luffy declares.

Everyone, including you, lets out a collective ‘Huh?!’.

He throws his head across the table, his face yet again mere inches away from yours.

“It’s decided!” He smiles giddily at you, “Why don’t you just like me instead?” 

You open and close your mouth, speechless.

Zoro clenches his jaw and stands, his hand suddenly shoving Luffy’s head down into a plate of food.

“You’re too damn close!’ He grits out in anger. 

If possible, everything becomes even quieter.

Luffy eventually lifts his head laughing and munching on some of the food. He lets his head retract back to his body, giving Zoro a self-satisfied grin before he continues to eat. 

Zoro sits back down with a grumble.

After a few seconds of stunned silence Nami is the first to speak.

“Oookayyy?” She glances around the table, “What just happened?” 

Everyone just shrugs, equally as confused.

You look to Zoro, who for the most part has gone back to normal, all except for the slight tension in his body. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (y/n): This is fine. *screams internally*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally getting no where.  
> I mean I have stuff in mind but it's just taking so much longer than I thought. Mah b.  
> Also there may be a lot more typos cause I haven't really edited this yet.

Almost immediately after that whole fiasco, Emory gets up and storms out of the kitchen.

Robin leans over to you, whispering, “I don’t think she’s in such a good mood anymore.” Her eyes shine in amusement, not a care in the world. 

It was pretty obvious that Emory seemed to have a fixation on Zoro, but you couldn’t for the life of you, figure out what you did to make her glare at you like that.

The others slowly start to file out, finished with breakfast. Sanji tasks Brook and Zoro to clean up and do the dishes. 

You, feeling muddled, decide to go back to the room and dig through your belongings for your sketchbook, wanting to get away from everyone and be alone. Before you can get far though, Chopper grabs you and hands you a small glass jar full of pills.

“Take these when you begin to feel anxious.”

You chuckle a little, “That’s like 95% of the time though.”

Chopper looks at you with mild concern.

“I’m just kidding!” You wave him off with a light smile.

_ But, also, not really.  _ You think to yourself.

You thank him, trying to express your gratitude to the fullest. You then give him the usual compliment, and leave him feeling on top of the world.

When you enter the room you notice the blankets of one of the other futons shifting around. Emory turns to look over her shoulder at you as you enter. You are about to ask if she's ok when she up-turns her lip and clicks her tongue in annoyance, going back under the covers. 

You simply raise your hands in surrender and grab your backpack, slowly walking back and out the door, not wanting any trouble. 

Clutching your backpack to your front, you regard the whole ship. You see people milling around on the garden deck. Robin is back where she was this morning, only this time Nami, Aiko, Usopp, and Sanji are with her. Nami sits next to Robin, also reading, with Aiko next to her simply basking in the sun. Usopp is busy pruning his plants and talking animatedly, while Sanji walks up to Nami, Robin, and Aiko holding a tray of colorful drinks, offering them each one. You hear a yawn to your right and look to see Luffy and Chopper sitting on the edge of the ship, fishing poles in hand. You assume Franky must be on the lower decks. 

You have the thought of going back to the kitchen, but ultimately decide against it. The earlier events still have your mind in a jumble. You argue to yourself about your previous decision of being ‘normal’. But Zoro was being weird. Well from what you’ve previously known about the other, he was being weird. But also, you’ve learned over the past day that there’s more to all of the crew than what the show lets on.

You quietly groan and rub at your hair, feeling a little frustrated. You wish you knew what Zoro was thinking.

You finally decide not to head to the kitchen, scoffing at yourself for taking so long to decide on something so little and the inner turmoil you’re feeling.

You’d rather be alone at the moment anyways, so you glance around some more, trying to find a place that would be private. You see the base of the main mast and remember the crows nest. Sidling discreetly, you climb the latter.

The first thing you notice is the workout equipment and you remember that this is where Zoro workouts out. You hope that he won’t be coming up here anytime soon. 

You walk around, amazed by the 360 view you have of the ocean. Here, the swaying of the ship was a bit more pronounced, but you tell yourself to try and not pay attention to it. Sitting cross legged on the floor rather than the long rounded bench, you unzip your backpack and pull out everything.

You pull out your school material first with a scowl. The papers in your binder pulling away from the binder rings from being tousled the day before. Your notebook, and two folders in the same state. Next, you pull out your Ipad and pen, you had completely forgotten that you had quickly stuffed it in your backpack before running out the door. Thankfully they don’t look damaged. You press the lock button on the pad, the battery life showing 19%. Pouting a little bit, you pull out your book next, the front few pages bent at the corners. You give a little dissatisfied whine at this and try to fix the bent pages. You then pull out your sketchbook and flip through the pages, other than a few bends, the book was fine. Turning over your backpack, you lift it to dump out the rest of miscellaneous things. A pencil pouch, a stray eraser, a pack of gum, lotion, hand sanitizer, wallet, toiletry pouch, apartment keys, airpods, and phone charger. 

You pick up the charger with a happy cry, thankful that the charger is universal to all your devices. Wondering where your phone is, you dig a hand through your backpack, coming up empty. You hope it’s in your coat pocket. You would go and look, but the thought of stepping in on an upset Emory doesn’t spark your interest at the moment so you let it go. 

After a few calm moments of looking through all your stuff, you feel satisfied that everything seems to be there, having worried a little bit about losing something. You did work hard for some of this stuff after all, and you weren’t all too excited about losing or breaking them. 

You put everything away again, except your sketchbook, pencil pouch, and charger, and set your backpack against the bench that stretches around the crows nest. Leaving everything, you set out to find Usopp. Hoping that he’ll be able to construct some sort of power bank for your charger. 

When you finally begin to climb the ladder again, it’s about midday. 

(This is where you picture yourself hesitantly going up to Usopp to ask for his help and then him gladly taking the charger and saying that you came to the best, with him proclaiming his competence to otherworldly devices. You had rolled your eyes with an amused smile and followed him to his workshop. Only he wasn’t really lying this time? It had taken him roughly 3 hours to figure out the mechanics and wiring, with you sitting and watching in awe as he worked, and him chatting animatedly, telling you stories and making you laugh. The ease in which Usopp felt and looked in his space making you feel more comfortable as the hours went by. He then hands you the power bank with a proud smile, saying to come to him if there’s any problem, which you smile and nod, thanking him profusely.)

You look down at the device feeling rightfully impressed by Usopp’s work. 

Before making your ascent up the ladder though, you decide to chance a glance in the girls quarters, your technology ridden mind wanting to make sure your phone is safe. 

Slowly opening the door, you poke your head in to peek inside. The room was dark, the only light coming from the windows. You look to see if Emory is in her bed and see that the blankets have been pushed aside, showing no one else in the room. 

You sigh, feeling grateful, and quickly grab for your jacket, searching through the pockets. You make a small triumphant ‘aha!’ when you pull out your phone. Pocketing the power bank and phone, you make your way back to the ladder with a small hop to your step. Quietly humming as you climb your way up, you absently think about something to draw. 

All thoughts fly out the window though, when you pop open the hatch and climb into the crows nest, only to see Zoro sitting in the middle of the room meditating. To make matters worse he was shirtless and sweaty, and your mind may have short circuited a bit. 

Your previous humming catches in your throat, causing a choked off sound in your surprise, and you could feel your whole body going hot.

He pops his eye open at the noise you make, regarding you with a raised brow, and you avert your eyes.

“That’s yours isn’t it?” He says after a beat of silence. He nods his head in the direction of your bag.

“Oh--yeah, sorry,” You slide over to your belongings, limbs feeling clumsy. “I’ll just--” You pick up your bag, clutching it to your chest and turn to leave.

“I didn’t say you had to leave.” Zoro re-positions himself, “just try to be quiet.” He says quieter as he sets himself to meditate again. He closes his eye and you stand still briefly, trying to decide if you should leave or stay. 

You quietly walk back over to where your stuff previously was and sit on the ground, resting your back against the bench stiffly. 

Trying to be as quiet as you can, you get out your Ipad and plug in the charger, a happy tear appearing at the corner of your eye when you see the small lightning bolt pop up, indicating that it was charging. You set it down on the bench near your head and pull out your phone and airpods, letting them connect and choosing calm music for your ever anxious body. Next, pulling out a pencil and opening your sketchbook, you finally glance up at Zoro’s profile. 

He sits there breathing calmly, eyes closed, broad chest rising and falling slowly. His visuals and the calm music in your ears mix together perfectly. 

You look down at your sketchbook, feeling nervous. That nervousness makes it hard for you to relax. Your mind strays naturally.

What had happened exactly in the kitchen? And what was Luffy talking about? You honestly can’t take him seriously and mostly think he’s just trying to mess with you somehow. Most of all, you try to figure out what Zoro’s reactions meant. He was definitely being weird. For a moment you have such unusually optimistic thoughts, that you softly huff a laugh through your nose, basically scoffing at yourself and you resolutely slice those bright intrusive thoughts to pieces. Even still, you have a tickling feeling in the back of your mind, like you’re completely missing something.

You stare, mind blank, subconsciously becoming aware of the heat of the sun beating down all around you. You feel warm, but not unbearably warm. 

Trying to will yourself to relax, you, yourself take a deep breath and exhale slowly, closing your eyes.

_ Be normal, be normal. _

You repeat the phrase in your head like a mantra, and each time you will your shoulders to relax and your heart to calm. 

Taking one last deep breath, you open your eyes and roll your neck, trying to relieve the strain. You roll the wrist that holds your pencil and bring your knees up to get a better angle of the paper. And you draw. You start to draw whatever comes to mind first, and before you know it, your mind is drawn into your work, your concentration taking over your thoughts.

Some time passes. You’re not sure how long, but you can tell it’s been a while because of the building ache in your hunched over back and the sun hanging low in the sky.

Leaning back, you lay your head on the seat behind you. You close your eyes and give a small yawn, the warmth from the sun making you feel tired. You open your eyes with the intent to stare blankly at the ceiling, only to drop your pencil in surprise when you see Zoro standing and staring down at you. 

You raise a hand to your heart, “God! You have got to stop popping up everywhere!” You chide as you take your headphones out of your ears.

Zoro crosses his arms with an amused smirk, “I called your name three different times.” He squats in front of you and your eyes follow him as you repeatedly tell your heart to ‘chill the fuck out’.

“What are those?” He asks, finger pointing at the airpods being held in your fingers.

You’re confused for a second then it hits you that everyone here doesn’t really know about certain things that are a norm in your world. 

“Headphones.” You answer simply, and you offer up a bud to him. 

He takes it and looks at it curiously, “What does it do?” 

“Here.” You sit up straighter, sitting cross legged and leaning up. You take the bud from his hands gently and motion for him to bring his head closer, which he does obediently. You try not to pay the proximity any mind.

Your hands shake ever so slightly as you try to insert the buds into his ears. He arches his eyebrow in silent questioning, but lets you finish.

Zoro watches as you pick up your phone, making sure that the volume isn’t too loud, and then pressing play. 

His back goes straight in astonishment and he tilts his head.

You chuckle at his reaction, thinking he looks like a confused dog.

Waving in front of his face to grab his attention, you gesture for him to hand one over. He plucks one bud out and hands it to you. 

“That’s so weird.” He says. And you guess that the concept is a little weird once you think about it. 

He turns and plops next to you as you put the other bud in your ear so you’re both listening. You tense slightly, reflexively trying to close your sketchbook.

“What are you doing?” He asks, and you think that it’s weird he’s asking so many questions, still expecting the stoic and almost aloof character that’s portrayed in the show. 

He leans over, trying to catch a glimpse of your drawings. His shoulder comes into contact with yours and you try with all your power not to tense any further. You stare down at the pages of your sketchbook, vision gently shaking and blood rushing through your body. You have the stupid overwhelming urge to swallow excessively. And you curse yourself. Why were you the only one affected like this?? It wasn’t fair. 

His face gets even closer as he tries to catch a glimpse.

Your hands finally give way in your distracted state, and Zoro takes the book from your hands. He flips through the pages, stopping on a few to look briefly, before stopping on your most recent.

He points at a few sketches, “Is that me?” He asks as he looks at a drawing of his profile from earlier when you mustered up the courage to draw the other. The other few are just random poses from memory. 

You want to slap yourself, why did you think that was a good idea. But you think,  _ Be normal. Be normal, _ so instead you shrug a shoulder.

“You weren’t moving. Made you a perfect model.” Is all you offer as an explanation. Zoro doesn’t say anything, just hands you back the book.

“Sorry.” You mutter at his silence, thinking you did something bad.

“You need to stop apologizing all the time,” He yawns, and then casually rests his head on your shoulder. “They're really good.” He says, and your eyes go wide, body unmoving, “Knew you could do something.”

“Uhm.” You choke out in confusion. This was weird. He is definitely being weird! This is weird right?! You could imagine the animated sweat running down your body as you panicked.

A light snore brings you from your internal screaming. 

You subtly glance down at the other. You can’t really see anything other than the top of his head and the jut of his nose, but the slow rise and fall of his chest says enough.

You relax ever so slightly, letting out a deep exhale. 

What do you do now?? Do you nudge him off so you can run away? Or do you sit still and let him sleep? You could feel the familiar tingling in your limbs as your anxiousness builds, breaths coming shorter and shorter. But--but you didn’t want to move him! 

You try to dig in your bag as stiff as possible, so as to not wake the other. You pull out the bottle of medicine that Chopper gave you, quietly emptying two and then trying to swallow them dry. It’s hard, but they go down and you swallow thickly a few times. You breathe deeply and stare at the other wall feeling pathetic.

Shouldn’t this be a cute moment? Shouldn’t this feel like some sort of romantic awakening for you two? Not you freaking out because you’re so unused to the situation that your body doesn’t know what else to do other than to ooze adrenaline through your veins. 

More time passes.

You try to focus on breathing as the medicine slowly dissolves and your body relaxes into the other, the brief bout of shocking energy completely draining you. You breathe in deeply, the air catching and stuttering in your chest as you (finally) gently lay your head on top of Zoro’s, your eyes drooping. You let out a quiet hum of content, the warmth of the sun and the warmth of Zoro’s body gently lolling you to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited so sorry if there are typos!:D

It’s the next day and you’re squatting next to Usopp, watching him tend to his plants. The day had begun with cloudy weather, the dull grey overcast filling every inch of seeable sky. Nami had said over breakfast, that they should be seeing land just past noon. 

You watch Usopp gently poke at a wild looking plant and watch as it attempts to bite his finger before recoiling back into its leaves. You both laugh just as Sanji waltzes over, offering you both something to snack on when there’s a holler of land from Franky. Everyone looks in the direction of where he is pointing, just to the left of the head of the ship to see a small green mound on the horizon. 

You curiously make your way to the front of the ship to get a better look and find Franky looking through a telescope, Brook and Aiko standing by him with Zoro leaning against the railing watching the small island grow closer and closer.

When seeing the other, you think about what happened the day before.

The loud  _ thunk _ of the hatch door falling open along with Usopp’s ‘Time for dinner!’ shout, causes Zoro to wake with a snort, head jolting and bumping into yours.

You make a pained noise, “goddammit.” And shoot Zoro a petulant glare through your tired eyes. 

Zoro just groans and scratches at his head, letting out a tired yawn, “What time is it?”

You glance over noticing Usopp. 

“Dinner’s ready.” Usopp answers back instead. He looks at you with an intrigued stare, an eyebrow raised and a tilt to his lips. 

You roll your sore neck with a wince. You were sore, but there was no sense of regret.

Zoro slowly gets up and glances down at you. Your heart leaps in your chest. The golden light from the sun warms his skin tone, his tired eyes lidded and hair now mussed, sticking up in all directions. You could see a red mark on the cheek that he had been resting on your shoulder. 

You wonder what you must look like, because Zoro smiles gently and bends down to ruffle your hair. Your eyes grow ever so slightly, you could feel your cheeks changing color.

“Come on.” He says, voice calm. He turns to follow Usopp down the ladder and you quietly follow behind him, feeling light.

You step up next to him, leaning against the railing as well. He regards you, and you give him a warm smile.

“Excited?” He asks. 

You look back to the green perched on the expanse of the ocean, a mixture of fear and a giddy kind of feeling buzzes through your body. You haven’t ever really traveled before, always somehow content to stay in your small room. New places tend to drive your nerves up the wall, so you generally stick to what you're comfortable with. The past two days have been nothing but nerve wracking though, so you think that this island won’t be much different, which somehow makes you feel better.

You hum, mulling the feeling over in your mind, “Mmm, yeah.” 

He leans to get a better look at you, “You don’t seem it.” 

You snort, “You’ll find that I’m pretty apprehensive most of the time.” You shrug. 

“Well, let’s just hope Luffy doesn’t cause any trouble.” Zoro says in amusement, looking back out to sea. 

You’re pleasantly surprised to think that things between the two of you aren’t as awkward as you thought they might be. Everything felt comfortable in a way and you’re happy to think that you may have somehow gotten a bit closer to the other, even if it wasn’t in a romantic sense. 

You’re about to joke about how that’s impossible when Emory suddenly pops up, pressing herself against Zoro’s otherside. 

Zoro sighs. 

“Will you show me around the Island, Zoro?” She asks, her voice honeycoated. 

“You guys are going shopping, remember?” He answers back simply.

“Aww, come on,” She whines, giving his arm an insistent tug, “We could explore the town together, just the two of us. 

And there’s that glare again.

“Don’t want to.” 

You rest your face in your hand and stare at the approaching island, trying to ignore the two.

You felt a familiar sadness creep up your chest. 

See, you weren’t the type to get blatantly jealous. No, it was more of a sad type of jealousy. One that made you compare and feel inferior. It was the type where you would just sort of look at the two and feel the need to step to the side and sit, feeling pitiful and dejected, but jealous all the same. 

Nami approaches in that moment, and Franky hands her the telescope. She peers through it, taking in the island. Then it’s a flurry of shouted commands and everyone jumping to get the ship ready for docking. 

Your legs wobble when hitting the water and sand. The bottoms of your pants soak up water and you sway, accidentally tumbling into Usopp right as he jumps out of the boat. 

“Woah, you all good?” He steadies you as everyone else hops from the small boat that brought you all to shore. 

You push your hair out of your eyes, shaking your head to ground yourself, “Yeah, just-- still feel like I’m on the ship.” You chuckle, pulling away from the other. 

Nami did well to guide the ship a little ways from the main port, so as to not draw too much attention. You look up, glancing around the small alcove, cliffs surrounding the beach as it seemed to stretch on forever. 

The trek to town takes about ten minutes. 

Nami splits everyone up, tasking Brook and Franky to keep an eye on Luffy. They already seem to have their hands full when Luffy spots a massive bear with a cute small hat with a tassel being wheeled down the street on a cart by about twenty people. He runs off in the direction it’s going, Chopper hot on his heels. Brook and Franky follow, with Brook laughing and Franky shouting, encouraging their antics. Nami shouts for them to meet back at the ship by sunset. 

The island you guys landed on seems to be a giant trade town. The buildings circle a large bazaar where tents, self made shacks are scattered everywhere. Loud music plays as people holler out deals, beckoning individuals to buy or trade. You glance around the area, already feeling claustrophobic and stressed.

It’s two hours later and you’re entirely finished with shopping. The constant buzz of adrenaline and your short breaths doing a lot to wear your energy done.

Nami drags you all into yet another large tent. The bags you all hold, already full of many different pieces. You groan internally. The others, however, look around happily while you look half heartedly, your hand passing over clothes, not really looking. 

The merchant shows beautiful jewelry to Nami, who begins to bargain the prices.

Your eyes wander as you tune into the conversation taking place behind you. It's around the moment when the merchant grumbles and relents to Nami’s price when you see a few things that catch your eye. You pick them up and step behind a curtain to change.

(This is where you imagine an outfit you would pick out:) )

You look at yourself in the mirror and feel content. You think you look cute, the clothes fit and suit you perfectly. You, for once, feel happy with how you look.

Deciding to just keep the outfit on, you walk out from behind the curtain, your old clothes in hand. 

Nami sees you and is quick to give compliments.

“You look so cute!” She comes up to you and turns you around to look at the mirror again, holding your shoulders with a happy grin, “They really suit you!” 

You look to find yourself smiling shyly in the mirror, not used to compliments. 

Robin comes up and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, smiling tenderly, “Super cute.” 

Your back straightens at this, and you happily twist, looking from side to side at yourself, feeling positive. 

You see Aiko walking over as well, she pinches your cheek saying ‘how cute~’, and you scrunch your nose up in laughter, bating her hand away. You glance in the mirror again to catch Emory’s eye’s rolling as she starts looking around the items of the tent again. The sudden flame of confidence you were feeling dampens a little bit, but you try to shake it off. 

“Thanks for buying all these things for us, Nami.” Aiko turns to her with a grateful smile.

Nami smiles, “Of course!” Her look suddenly turns sly. “Just consider this as a loan.” 

“A Loan?” Aiko quirks her eyebrow up in question.

Nami nods and sweeps her gaze at the three of you, “Including interest.” 

Aiko stiffens and awkwardly looks between Emory and you, and you just sigh. You could have predicted this. Robin laughs softly next to you, covering it behind her hand.

“So, let’s pay for these,” Nami takes the shirt that Aiko was holding and begins to walk over to the merchant. “And head to the next shop, yeah?” She smiles, the corners holding a devious flare. 

“Wa-wait,” Aiko goes and takes the shirt from Nami. “I think I’m okay without this one.” She says with an awkward laugh as she puts the shirt back where she found it.

You chuckle at the pout that Nami gives her.

The day continues and you curse your fatigue. Everyone just seemed to stay lively, whereas your pace became slower and the smiles began to come with more strain. It’s not like you weren’t having any fun, it’s just that your energy was spent. You couldn’t understand how they all could keep going on. 

Robin suggested grabbing something to eat, so you all stop by a few of the food venders. You plop yourself down at one of the various tables that were strewn around for customers and sink into the chair.

“Are you not going to get anything?” Robin questions. 

“I’m not really hungry, but could you maybe grab me some water, please?” You drop the bags you were holding on the ground. Robin agrees.

You watch as they walk off, disappearing into the crowds of people. Your mind goes blank as you watch the people around you. The sounds all blend together making your ears buzz. You lean to lay your head back and look at the sky, the blues and oranges of evening calming you. A bird glides by and you wonder what it would be like to be a bird in this world.

A sudden shriek to your left causes your head to shoot up. You look over to see a split in the crowd as people run away and you sit up, body ready to run. You pause when you notice Robin. She stands at the ready, arms crossed and face sharp. You follow her piercing gaze to see a rather large man with unruly fire red hair that frames his impish face. In one hand he has a large sword that curves at the tip, in the other he’s hastily picked Nami up, carrying her close to his side. Aiko steps in line with Robin, broad sword drawn, her body stands rigid and yet poised at the same time. Emory follows in step with Aiko, a small book floating in front of her with her arms folded, her face twisting into disgust and you think she might actually spit at the man. 

Nami struggles in his hold, her long wavy hair falling over her face as she squirms. The man laughs a kind of laugh reminiscent of Santa Clause, which makes you feel odd. 

“Let her go!” Aiko yells at the man, her sharp coarse eyes glaring viciously. 

He laughs again, “Or what?” He says childishly, his voice surprisingly high.

A big scroll suddenly pops into existence. It unravels and the man places Nami on the sheet before it rolls itself back up, effectively minimizing Nami’s struggle. 

Aiko’s the first to jump into action. 

She’s quick to sprint up to him, swinging her sword expertly at his lower abdomen. 

He stumbles back a bit surprised by the action, his foot falls causing the ground to quietly quake from his size. He drops his sword down on her, but she dodgers away. 

Aiko’s movement makes Robin and Emory snap into action. Emory snaps her fingers and her broomstick appears in sparks, she soars off the ground and circles the man shouting words that you don’t understand. Explosions erupt around him producing purple puffs of smoke. 

The man swipes his arms unceremoniously trying to swat Emory from the sky. At the same time, Robin produces an arm on his back, pulling hard on his red hair and making him throw his head back with a cry, tumbling some more. 

Aiko swings her sword again, cutting into his shin as she slides between his legs, somersaulting to a stand, then running around him again. He lets out another howls in pain and his injured leg gives out. He lands on his knee, his hands coming to steady him.

Your chair pops off the ground a few inches from the rumble of earth his fall causes.

All you can do is stare, body shaking and feet rooted firmly in place. You watched with wide eyes as they fought. People dashing past you in every direction in retreat.

You hear a frustrated growl and the man suddenly swings his arm quickly, taking Emory by surprise. Her pause is enough for him to wrap his fingers around her.

“Emory!” You all shout in unison. You finally stand up.

She grunts in his grip. He’s quick to unravel the scroll again, setting her next to Nami. He laughs maniacally.

“Is that all you got?” He sneers.

Aiko clenches her teeth, biting into his bait and she charges again, her mind less coordinated in her frustration. The man swipes his sword, using the flat side to scoop her up and throw her up. She flails in the air for a beat before he snatches her and throws her in with Nami and Emory. 

“Aiko!” Robin shouts and you stumble forward, legs feeling sluggish, panic already taking over your mind. 

How had everything turned so quickly?

Your forward momentum pushes you to begin running more properly. 

“R-Robin, run!” You shout to her.

You scream at yourself for drawing her attention, because she turns her head towards you and the man takes this as his chance. He grabs her easily, throwing her with the rest. 

You collapse to your knees, feeling the most helpless you’ve ever felt in your entire life. 

The man turns and begins to walk away, thinking a job well done. The scroll glides by his head, following him with muffled cries of the four women trapped inside. 

The world around you falls silent, the dust settling as he walks away.

You watch his retreating back. Your body shakes, your legs refusing to move. You want to do something,  _ need _ to do something,  _ anything _ . You clutch at your hair, feeling aggravated and frustrated and angry and so very very weak. 

There’s a distant caw of a bird.

_ Do something, dammit! _

You clench your fists. 

You hadn’t realized your body was moving until you felt the rock in your hand, and by then it was too late. 

You run after the man, your shoes sliding to a halt on the gravel path. Picking up a rock, you throw it as hard as you can, a grunt leaving your lungs in the effort. The silence in the moments that the rock flies through the air feel a lot like the calm before the storm.

There’s an odd sounding  _ thunk _ noise when the rock hits the man on the head.

He stops and you let out a frightened ‘eep’. 

You jump when he looks back at you, but you stick your ground, albeit quite literally quivering in your shoes. 

“Hey,” You squeak then clear your throat, making sure to speak louder. “Hey you fucking moron!” 

“Huh?” He turns his lip up, clearly annoyed. 

“You heard me you fucking pervert!” You say stronger, slowly letting your anger seep out.

He steps closer to you and you reach down to grab another rock. 

“Where the hell did--”

You throw the rock at him, cutting him off. You grab another one, readying yourself with the only weapons you had, rocks and your words.

“Are you so ugly that you can’t get a girlfriend the proper way, huh, you creep!” You chuck the rock, “Let my friends go!” You command firmly. Maybe if you acted well enough he wouldn’t see how scared you were. 

The man seems stunned for a moment before he grits his teeth. He walks right up to you, making you jump and drop the other rock you had grabbed. Your plan seems to be backfiring.

“What did you say?” He asks, tone snarling in rage. He bends to get a better look at you.

You try to blink past your blurry vision, head swimming. You felt like you might faint at any moment.

“Let ‘em go!” You kick dirt into his face, feeling like you look like a child throwing a tantrum.

He reels back, eyes squeezing shut. You back up cautiously, trying to get distance between the two of you. 

He rubs at his eyes and opens them, tears at the corners. And that seems to be the last straw, because he growls and snatchs you up. You make a wary cry in fear. 

However, instead of putting you in the scroll, he swings his arm back with you in his grasp. You struggle to get out but it’s useless.

Then, he hurls you with such force that you smash through several rows of tents, startling people that had been out of the vicinity of your little battle. You finally barrel through a tent and come to a stop in a watermelon stand, splintered wood raining down over your limp body.

“Zoro,” Usopp says, exasperated. He adjusts the bags full of food around his shoulders. “I’m positive we’re walking the wrong way.” 

“And I’m positive we’re going the right way.” Zoro argues. 

Usopp groans, Zor--”

Something blows past right in front of them, blasting through the tent on their left and crashing to a stop in the watermelon stand on their right. Usopp jumps, dropping the bags, the debris from the stands falling haphazardly around them. 

Startled passersby stop, all turning to see what caused the noise. They begin to gather around the watermelon stand, curious. Zoro and Usopp follow their lead. 

They see a limp body laying on a pile of crushed watermelons, one toppling to fall on their arm then rolling away. Zoro peeks past the crowd, trying to get a closer look. 

He sees the familiar (h/c) hair. 

A feeling of dread fills his chest, “(y/n)?” He quickly pushes past the people in front of him.

Usopp looks at Zoro confused then studies the body closer, his eyes grow wide in realization. 

Zoro rushes to kneel next to you, “(y/n).” He says, voice urgent. He picks up your upper body, gently cradling you. “(y/n)!” The worry in his voice breaks his usual composure. 

Deep red blood oozes from a gash on your head. 

Zoro gently shakes you, trying to wake you up, “(y/n)!” He calls again.

Usopp quickly crouches by your otherside. He frantically takes a nearby cloth, ripping it into long strips and begins to try to stop the bleeding. He looks down at you, close to tears. 

You can hear a disembodied voice calling your name. You fight the present blackness clouding your mind and push towards the light, a silhouette coming into view. You try to move, but your body is heavy. You try to speak, but all that comes out is a raspy groan. 

Your eyes open slowly, your look is far away and your pupils dilated. You squeeze one eye closed when the blood from your wound drips into it, stinging you. Your head throbs and your ears ring incessantly.

“Hey,”

At the sound you sluggishly look to see Zoro and Usopp, they wobble in your eyes, dizziness making you feel nauseous. Your head lolls over to rest on Zoro’s chest, the warmth pulling you back to the darkness. Your eyes begin to slide shut, but Zoro gently shakes you again, jolting you awake.

“No, hey,” His voice goes quiet as though he were coaxing a small animal. “Please stay awake.” 

Your head throbs again in protest and you groan in pain. 

You lick your lips, “‘mtired.” You mumble, words slurring.

“I know, but we need you to stay awake.” Zoro says gently. He didn’t know much about first aid, but the far off look in your eyes didn’t sit well with Zoro and he feared that if you closed your eyes that they would never open again. 

“Do you remember?” Zoro prods. He tries to keep his anger at whoever did this at bay.

You furrow your brow, trying to remember. You remember the fight and being picked up, but everything else was a blur.

“M’big guy.” You say uselessly. 

“Big guy?” Usopp says in confusion. He accidentally tightens a strip too tight, causing you to wince. “Sorry, sorry.” He apologizes frantically.

“Where are the others?” Zoro asks after shooting Usopp with a glare.

“Took ‘em.” You cough and wince again, the throbbing in your head becoming overwhelming. 

Zoro stares in the direction you came from, the line of debris leading to an open area. He tenses his jaw, an irate feeling making his blood boil. 

He turns to Usopp, “Take her to Chopper. I’m going to go after whoever did this.” He glances down to see you shutting your eyes and gently shakes you again. “Hey, gotta stay up.”

You whine quietly.

He holds you closer, “Please try,” He pauses, “For me? Can you do that for me?”

You peer up at him, unfocused and mind drifting, but you try to bring yourself around.

You nod. 

“That’s my girl.” Zoro smiles down at you before reluctantly giving you over to Usopp.

Zoro takes care to help Usopp perch you on his back, trying to rest your head in a way that it won’t jostle too much. Then he leaves in the direction you came from.

You don’t remember much of the way back. 

You only remember a few times when Usopp would lightly jostle you to keep you awake, and Chopper's concerned face, random words you would pick up, and the bright lights flashing over you. Then, everything went black for a long while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Villain: *is 20 ft tall*
> 
> (Y/n): *is smol*   
> Fuck you🖕🏽👁👄👁🖕🏽


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do I know what I'm doing? No.  
> Is Zoro out of character? Maybe. Yeah? Idk.  
> Also, sorry there's like no substance in this chapter? I just couldn't really get myself to write.

You open your eyes to darkness. Everything felt and seemed to have a blurred edge to it even though you couldn’t see anything. You float through a dark void. The mass expanse of darkness somehow making you feel claustrophobic. You aimlessly drift through, never actually remembering the seconds that pass while also  _ feeling _ each second pass. The infinitude feeling long while also passing within the blink of an eye. You can feel a presence near, but don’t see anybody, only making the sense of loneliness intensify. You search and search, but feel like every time you turn your head they shift out of view. Like they’re always somehow just out of your reach.

The lonely feeling stays with you even when you actually open your eyes. 

You wake to a dark room, the moaning creaks of the ship, accentuating the silence. The only light comes from a window to the left of the bed you lay in, filling the room with a dim bluish grey. It doesn’t take long for you to recognize the room as the infirmary. Closing your eyes again, you feel the now dull pain in your head, and try to remember what happened.

It takes a couple moments but you eventually piece together all the scattered images in your mind, though you can’t remember some details.

You sigh heavily.

Rolling your head to the side to look around the room, you find the only living thing to be yourself. 

You lay there for a time, mind wandering with questions. 

What happened after you blacked out? Were the other’s okay? What time was it right now? How long were you asleep?

Peeling back the covers, you assess yourself. You find yourself in the same clothes you were wearing before and you momentarily mourn at the blood stains and rips all over. You’re not really surprised to see bandages all up your arms and legs though. Reaching up, you touch your head to feel a bandage there as well. Gently moving your limbs, you’re glad to see that nothing seems broken, mostly just sore. You marvel at how nothing was broken and you think that maybe it’s because of the animated body you now have. 

You huff a laugh in amusement. Of course your body would be able to take a hit in an anime.

Letting yourself go slack against the pillows again, you let your eyes slip shut again.

_ It’s probably pretty late. _ You glance out the window to only see stars.  _ Maybe everyone’s asleep. _

You didn’t want to be too presumptuous, but the lingering feeling of loneliness was consuming you. You want someone to be there with you right now, even if they were just sitting there and not talking. A presence that you could actually see would be nice, you think. 

You scrunch your eyebrows, feeling ridiculous. What’s up with that? It’s not like you’re not used to being alone. It’s quite the opposite actually. 

You think back to all the times you lay in you stayed home, rather than go out. All the times you did go out, only to feel left out. All the times you laid awake at 3 am in your apartment, staring at the ceiling. Your roommate, lying in their own bed, snoozing away. You remember the same feeling passing over you. 

You see, even though you have a family and friends, you’ve never really had anyone you felt close with. You’ve always felt like you were just sort of there. Someone that gets left behind and forgotten easily. 

Someone that’s dispensable.

A numbing feeling suddenly drapes over you like a light veil and your eyes dull. It, blissfully letting your heart and mind not care.

_ That’s right.  _

This feeling is normal for you.

You laugh quietly at yourself. 

_ Why are you so gloomy all the time? _

But not something you could really help it at this point, you think. It’s kind of like a default emotion for you.

Your stomach suddenly growls, pulling you away from your thoughts. Food. That sounds nice right now. You smack your lips, tasting the dryness in your mouth. Water. That also sounds really nice right now. 

You contemplate in silence of whether you are willing to get up and get something to eat or to wait until morning. You hum to yourself in contemplation, trying to fill the silence of the room.

Another louder growl finally prompts you to slowly sit up. You wince at your sore muscles. Your stomach churns and you can’t tell whether this ill feeling is because of your hunger or the sudden dizziness washing over you. You pause for a moment, waiting for your body to calm down. 

The ship sways and creaks as you take deep breaths before gently sliding off the bed, your bare feet feeling cold on the hardwood floor. 

You make your way to the door in an unsteady fashion. You think about how you must look to the outside eye and want to laugh at yourself. It takes a second, but you make it to the door, the pressure on your head making you see pops of colors flash across your vision.

You feel like you’re going to be sick, so you bring a hand to grip at the door frame and take a few more deep breaths, trying desperately to not throw up. 

The ship rolls over a gentle wave, causing you to stumble forward, a worried noise slipping past your lips.

The door to the infirmary swings open in that moment, and instead of hitting wood you fall into a warm body, your hands instinctively coming to grip at their shoulders to steady yourself. 

You blink up feeling surprised to see Zoro staring down at you, his own eyes slightly widened in surprise.

“You’re finally awake.” He observes simply. 

You have no time to react though, because the ship tilts upwards, making you stumble backwards uneasily. You grip his shoulders tighter, trying not to fall. 

Zoro quickly ropes an arm around your waist and brings you to rest securely against him. Your heart flutters in your chest as you gaze back up.

“Ah, th-thanks.” You stammer, feeling too tired and hungry to be extremely flustered at the moment.

“What are you doing out of bed, dumbass?” 

Your eyebrow twitches in irritation at the name, the strain making your head hurt. The fight leaves your body quickly though.

“I just wanted some food.” You think out loud, your voice sounding a bit defeated. As if to accentuate your point, your stomach growls lowly. 

Zoro snorts, “Well I don’t blame you, it’s been four days.”

_ Damn four days?? _

You freeze slightly when you feel Zoro exhale and wrap his other arm around you, resting his cheek gently on your head. Being careful not to touch your wound. 

Your eyes dart around, not sure what to do. 

A beat of silence passes before you hesitantly rest your cheek on his chest. You hear the calm beating of his heart and it helps to calm your deteriorating mind. You close your eyes and sigh, letting yourself sag against him, trying to enjoy the unexpected tenderness from the other. 

Your stomach growls again, making Zoro huff a laugh and your ears to turn crimson in embarrassment.

He pulls away from you and you momentarily miss the warmth, only for him to stoop down and sweep your legs from under you. 

You yelp in surprise, “Wha--what--” Your heart beats loudly in your ears.

Zoro adjusts you in his arms, “I’ll get you some food, don’t worry.” 

“That’s not--” You splutter. “I can walk y’know.”

He doesn’t pay you any mind, walking over to the bed and laying you back down. You’re too stunned to say anything else in protest. 

He stands back up and walks to the door before stopping, “Don’t get up again.” 

Your lips form into a frown.

His quirk at your expression before he turns and leaves the room.

You adjust yourself into a more comfortable position.

The room goes quiet again.

But this time, when you stare at the ceiling, you can’t help the small grin that appears on your face.

It’s a few minutes later when Zoro walks through the door again. You sit up straighter when you smell the food, mouth already watering. 

Zoro sets a glass of water on the bedside table and hands you a plate of what looks like pot pie. 

You look at it sceptically, “Did you make this?” You take the plate from his hand. Sanji must be asleep so you could only assume. 

“No, they’re left overs from earlier.” He sits in the chair positioned near the bed.

You hold a hand to your heart and let out a huff in relief, “Oh thank god.” 

Zoro’s eyebrow twitches in irritation, “Oi.” 

He goes to bonk you on the head but stops mid way, remembering your injury. He instead decides to pinch your cheek in indignation. 

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” He says, obviously peeved. 

You laugh and bring a hand to your cheek, letting out an ‘ow’.

“Nothing, nothing.” You wave him off. 

“I’m surprised there are even left overs.” You say around a mouth full of pot pie. 

“Quit acting like Luffy and actually swallow.” Zoro rolls his eye.

You smirk, swallow and take a sip of water.

“Sanji’s been setting aside a plate for you the past few days.” Zoro huffs and sits back, crossing his arms. “He’s been acting like some heartbroken puppy.”

You look up from your plate with a look that says ‘really?’. 

You set down your fork and smile softly, “That’s sweet of him.”

Zoro doesn’t say anything. You want to ask why he seems so put off.

“How’s everyone else?” You ask instead. You’re curious about Zoro, but you’re also curious about Nami, Robin, Aiko and Emory.

“They’re fine. Everyone is.”

You exhale your relief. 

“You said I was out for four days?” You can’t believe it was that long. 

Zoro nods.

“What happened after I blacked out?”

“Turns out the guy that kidnapped the other’s is the son of a pirate captain that ruled over the town. You remember that bear?”

You nod.

“Yeah, same group. Anyways, I tried to follow the guy's trail, but I--got...disorientated.” There’s a hint of embarrassment on his cheeks.

You try to hide your laugh behind your hand, but it’s hard when Zoro is right there. He side eyes you in slight resentment. 

Gathering yourself, you gesture for the other to go on.

“When I finally found him, Luffy had already beaten him. Turns out the guy picked a fight with him when he saw Luffy trying to convince the bear to join the crew.”

You chuckle. Luffy would do that.

“He found out the guy had Nami, Robin, Aiko and Emory, and fought him. Pretty soon after, there was a fight between us and the crew. The captain came and fought too, he was pretty tough, but we eventually won. And now here we are.”

“Wow,” You say in awe after Zoro sits back, finished. “You really suck at re-telling stories.”

Zoro clicks his tongue, but can’t help the huff of laughter that slips him. 

You sit back as well, and look at your now empty plate. Everyone really was amazing. 

“Sorry, I was kind of useless.” You chuckle dejectedly. 

Zoro stares at your profile, watches as your eyes drift off.

“It’s not like we need you to be special.” He says in a straightforward fashion. “Anyways, I don’t see anything wrong with you.” He stands and holds out his hand for the empty plate. “You're special in your own right.”

You hand him the plate, feeling slightly taken aback by his words. 

Maybe he was right in a way? Maybe you just needed to accept that you would never have some overwhelming strength or some amazing power. But that also didn’t mean that you were any less special. There are other things to do in the world that have nothing to do with having to fight someone. 

Maybe you were just being overwhelmed by your insecurities again.

Zoro picks up your empty glass as well and starts to walk towards the door.

Your mind stutters and you instinctively reach out your hand, grabbing at his sleeve, not wanting him to leave you alone.

“W-wait.” 

He stops and peers down at you with a questioning look. 

Your mind catches up with you and you let go of his sleeve feeling awkward. You curse yourself for being so clingy.

“I--Are you coming back?” You ask, feeling stupid. 

Zoro’s gaze softens, he ruffles your hair, then pauses for a second, and then gently pokes your cheek, “Yeah.” 

You rub at your cheek as you watch him walk out.

“You’re Awake!!” Franky cheers excitedly.

“(y/n)-chwaann!!~” Sanji twirls up to you with tears in his eyes.

“I thought you were going to never wake up!” Usopp sobs as he comes up to hug you tightly.

You had just walked out of the infirmary with Zoro trailing behind you. Everyone had been gathered in the kitchen for breakfast, only to erupt the moment they saw you.

“(Y/N)!!!” Luffy laughs happily. He hops up with the intention of wrapping himself around you.

You take a step back, “Wai-- Luffy!” 

Zoro grabs the collar of his shirt and reels him back, with Luffy sporting a small pout.

“Dumbass, you want to knock her out again?” He scolds his captain.

Luffy still dangles in the air. He folds his arms, “Why can Usopp hug her but I can’t?” He scrunches his nose and sets his mouth in a thin line. 

“Cause you were literally just about to tackle her to the ground!” Zoro argues back.

“Bet it’s cause you’re jealous~” Luffy mumbles quietly. 

Zoro finally sets him down, whacking him across the head, “What the hell are you talking about? ” He lets out gruffly.

You want to cut in with a ‘hold on a minute, what?’, feeling confused. But nobody seems to pay them mind.

Aiko hugs you as they argue, “We were so worried about you.” She whines, her eyes mist over with unshed tears. Nami hugs your other side in a similar state, squishing you between the two. 

You look up when you feel a pat on your head. Brook looks down at you, his skull eyes gleeful, “Welcome back!” 

Your eyes stray behind him and you see Robin sitting at the couch, a book in hand and a warm smile on her face. 

“Guys, don’t crowd her!” Chopper tries pushing at Aiko and Nami’s legs, who still cling onto you. They giggle and let you go.

“Alright, alright.” Nami says in a mock complaint. She gives you a wink and you smile half heartedly. In truth, this was a little overwhelming, but you’re glad to see everyone was doing okay.

“(y/n)!” Emory comes hopping onto your back. Her chin knocking against your wound, causing you to teeter and hiss in pain. 

Zoro goes to help, but Chopper changes into his heavy point and grabs a hold of your arm, helping you to steady yourself. 

“Oi! I just got done telling them not to cling onto her!” 

Emory slips off, “I’m sorry, I just got here.” She pouts apologetically. 

Chopper leans down to check on you. You stand straighter and hold your head. 

“It’s fine.” You say with a pained smile.

“Try to be more careful next time.” Chopper scolds her.

“I’m just so happy she’s awake.” Emory looks down in shame. 

You furrow your brows, feeling confused. Maybe she had a change of heart?

“Thanks.” You give her a genuine smile.

“You were crazy back then by the way!” She says in awe and you laugh.

“I mean you just started throwing rocks and cussing at the guy! You’ve gotta admit that that was a realy idiotic thing to do right? I mean it’s no wonder you were thrown like a rag doll. To think the only thing you can do is swear and throw things and then you pass out for four days!” She laughs.

Your smile slips and you laugh awkwardly, “Yeah, I guess it was pretty stupid wasn’t it.”

You try to remember what Zoro said last night, but you can’t help the inferior feeling that crawls up your chest.

“Hey, she was doing her best.” Usopp steps up next to you. 

You know he means well, but that for some reason hurts just as much. Was that really your best? Or could you have done something else, tried harder maybe?

You felt yourself shrink under the attention, feeling frustrated with yourself, you don’t realize your nails digging into your forearm.

“Weren’t you the one that got captured?” Nami steps in. You blink in her direction.

Emory splutters, “Well--Yeah, and so were you.” She points out.

“Yeah, but I’m not the one belittling the one that tried to help us out.” She crosses her arms and stands tall. 

Emory stammers over herself, “I--I’m just concerned about her wellbeing.” She reasons.

Your eyes flit between the two, “Um It’s alright,” You cut in before anything else can be said. “Thanks for the concern, I’ll try to be more careful next time.” You just wanted things to go back to normal.

There’s a tug at your arm and you look to see Zoro. Your body instantly relaxes. 

“You’re being too loud,” He states aggravated. And basically drags you back to the infirmary. 

You let him with no complaint, cause honestly you just wanted to leave.

Chopper changes back to his original form and follows you two, “I’ll get you medicine for the pain, (y/n).”

“Oi, Dartboard, she wants her breakfast in here.” Zoro calls behind him.

Sanji grumbles but agrees, because, “Anything for (y/n)-chan!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to go along with the last chapter :D

It’s a few days later and Chopper had finally let you take a proper shower.

You slide down to sit and rest your back against the mast at the back of the ship, your breathing coming faster than normal. You clutch your backpack tightly to your chest. 

It’s still early morning and everyone had gone their separate ways after breakfast.

Nami had mentioned that it’d be about another week till there would be sight of another Island. It’s there that you would all do another restock of food and necessities. 

You shimmy to get in a more comfortable position and tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. Digging into your backpack, you pull out your airpods, phone and ipad. Your hands shake ever so slightly as you pop open your airpods.

Your heart was still racing and you needed something to calm you down from what just happened.

The droplets of water come to a halt and you shiver, the water already starting to cool down. You quickly grab a towel, starting to dry yourself and making sure to be more gentle with your head. You hum to yourself to fill the silence. 

You finish getting dressed, feeling more refreshed than you’ve been the past few days.

You’re just exiting the showers, hand still toweling your hair, when you're suddenly pushed back into the room. Your feet trip over the step up to the showers and you land on your butt, your hands falling to catch you. 

“What the hell!” You frown in annoyance and look up to see who pushed you.

Emory stands, arms folded, and staring down her nose at you.

You falter a bit when you make eye contact.

“Stay away from Zoro.” She says coldly.

You blink up at her, feeling astonished that you were actually in a situation like this.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She scowls, “You know exactly what I’m talking about!”

You raise your hands, suggesting surrender, “Look, I don’t know what you might think, but there’s nothing going on between us.” You say in earnest, voice wobbling slightly. You weren’t normally good with confrontation.

“You’re fucking right there isn’t.” She clicks her tongue, lip upturning in irritation, “Better stay the hell away. You’re not worth his fucking time. Know your place.” Her starch white eyes stab at you like daggers.

She whips around, long black hair trailing behind her. You flinch when the door slams shut. 

Staring at the door, you frown deeply, eyebrows creasing, feeling rightfully ticked off.

_The hell’s up with that?_

Why was she so fixated on you? It’s not like there was anything going on between you and Zoro. 

Admittedly, there have been moments where you thought that Zoro might, _might_ , feel the same way about you as you did him. But you reasoned with yourself logically, saying that it was just because you guys are starting to become closer friends. Because there’s no way that Zoro would ever feel the same.

You don’t understand her.

Despite your feelings of anger, your body shakes as you sit on the floor, heart beat racing. You slowly push yourself back up, your first thought being to block out the world.

Leading to you now sitting cross legged, bent over your ipad, sketching. Your earbuds in, and calm music melting away the anxious tension in your muscles.

The sun beats down on you, but the salty breeze helps to even out the temperature. You bob your head gently to the beat of your music.

Noticing a sudden shift in light to your right, you glance to see Zoro perching himself next to you. Your body instantly stiffens, remembering the confrontation with Emory. Zoro’s mouth moves and you remove an earbud to listen. 

He pauses, “Forgot about those.” He sighs, as he moves to rest his back against the mast, moving his katana to lay next to him. 

You laugh awkwardly and subtly try to make space between you and him, “Yup.” 

Zoro side eyes you. Then holds out his hand.

You look down at the hand, mind clicking, and you rest the bud in his palm. He fixes the piece in his ear, and shifts to get even more comfortable.

Seconds pass and you barely move. Your eyes flit around frantically. 

“Looking for someone?” Zoro looks over at you. 

You jump at his voice.

“Ah, not really.” You laugh awkwardly again, bringing your hand to scratch at your head. You have to resist the urge to pass over your healing wound.

“How’s the wound?” Zoro asks.

You feel a rough calloused hand brush your hair past your right ear and you freeze. He pushes your hair back, revealing a long red mark traveling along the side of your head to the back. 

Zoro notices your body going rigid and he halts his action. He studies your profile as you adamantly stare straight ahead, ears turning red. 

There’s a sudden shout to your left as Luffy and Usopp come barreling around. Usopp, chasing after a laughing Luffy.

“You’re not getting away this time!” Usopp shouts. His arm reaches in an attempt to tag the other, but Luffy throws his arm and swings out of reach. 

“That’s just not fair!” Usopp cries after him. 

And just like that they’re gone.

Zoro lets his hand fall, and you eye him warily. 

“What’s wrong?” Zoro asks, getting straight to the point.

“I’m fine.” You say instantly. Zoro gives you a skeptical look. “Really.” You insist. 

You tried to make yourself relax. It’s not like Emory would actually do anything to you right now. Right? 

You exhale, going back to what you were doing. 

An hour ticks by with you and Zoro speaking little to no words, sitting in companionable silence. At some point you hear soft snoring, only to look to see Zoro’s head nodding off. 

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper have come running around multiple different times when Luffy suddenly decides to plop down in front of you, making you jump. He sits cross legged, hands planted on his ankles as he leans to see what you’re doing.

“Wow, those are really good!” Luffy exclaims.

At this point you’ve gone through a few different drawings. You got tired of them and decided to just doodle a few fun pictures. 

You smile to yourself, “Thanks.”

“Can I try?” He grins at you, eyes crescenting. 

You hesitate, “Ah, sure,” You lay the ipad in his lap and hand him the pencil. “Just--please be careful.”

Luffy nods and begins drawing, his tongue sticking out at the corner in concentration. After a few minutes he flips the device around with a happy grin.

“Done!”

You look down and see a messy drawing of two people holding hands.

You smile, “Looks great, Luffy!” 

His grin grows wider, “It’s you and me!” You don’t miss the way his eyes glance over at Zoro, whose eyes are still shut, seemingly still asleep.

You blink at him and point to yourself, “Me?” 

“Yup!” 

His smile is blinding and you can’t help the warm feeling in your chest. 

“It’s cute, thank you,” You take the ipad from the other. “I’ll cherish it forever.” And you find yourself not really lying. 

You save the image to your device. Luffy pushes back, only to lay down and place his head in your lap, taking you completely by surprise. 

You lift your ipad and look past it, spluttering, “Wha--Luffy what are you doing?” 

He stretches out with a yawn and stares back up at you, “Have you fallen for me yet?” He asks, completely ignoring your questioning.

You don’t get to even wrap your head around his question, because Zoro kicks him, causing him to roll away dramatically. He laughs as he goes, an unsuspecting Sanji and Usopp having their feet swept from under them when Luffy crashes right into them. Sanji curses at him and punches him. Luffy apologizes but laughs all the same. 

You look back at Zoro, who has gone back to his previous nonchalant position. Your head tilts in confusion. You don’t say anything though.

Shifting, you try to get in a more comfortable position, your butt starting to hurt because of the wood deck. You inhale a hiss, limbs feeling stiff. Zoro’s eye pops open at the noise to see you rubbing at your tailbone. 

“Hurts?”

“Yeah, how do you sleep here all the time and not get sore?” You huff a chuckle. 

Zoro shrugs with a smile.

You start packing your things. “”M probably gonna go back to the room, take a nap there.” You move to get up but Zoro halts you.

“Just lay here.” He pats his leg.

Your eyes move from where his hand patted to his face, mouth opening and closing, feeling flustered.

“Ah,” You hesitate. 

You have no other option apparently, because Zoro tugs your arm and you fall into him. 

“It’s fine, I used your shoulder the other day anyways.”

It takes you a moment to agree, “A--alright.” 

You shakily pull yourself away from the other and get into a better position to lay down, your heart dancing wildly in your chest.

You lay your legs out and shift awkwardly. 

Zoro sees your hesitance and sighs. He wraps a hand over your eyes, pulling your head down completely. You yelp in surprise, head now resting where his hip and thigh meet. 

Your ears burn as you bring a hand to clasp his, moving it away so you can see him. You scowl. 

He grins down at you, “What?” 

Your heart constricts and your stomach flutters. You pout and turn away from him, feeling indignant.

“If you want me to stop liking you, you’ve gotta stop doing shit like that.” You huff.

“I never said I wanted you to stop.” 

You freeze, eyes wide and unbelieving. You tentatively turn your head and glance up at the other. 

Zoro has gone back to resting his head against the mast, eye shut, seemingly asleep again.

Your eyes drift, wondering if maybe you made that last part up in your head.

You relax again and bring a hand to your heart. 

_Maybe I’m going insane._

At some point you drift off.

Emory hums as she makes her way up the stairs. 

She peeks her head around, eyes searching, “Zor--” She stops when she sees you and Zoro.

You sleep soundly, mouth slightly agape with soft breathes coming out. 

Zoro watches as you sleep, he gently brushes a few strands of stray hair behind your ear, eyes soft.

Emory’s eyes narrow and she clenches her jaw, anger washing over her. Her hands fist, but she manages to calmly walk over to the two of you.

“Zoro~” She steps in front of him.

“What?” He asks flatly, sparing her a glance. 

“I wanna show you something!” She smiles and grabs his hand, giving a small tug.

“Not now.”

Emory’s eyebrow twitches and her lips twitch into a petulant sneer.

“Come on,” She whines. “It’ll only be for a minute. She won’t wake up.”

Not now.” Zoro says with more assertion. He pulls his hand out of her grasp.

Emory looks between Zoro and you, teeth biting at her cheek.

“It’ll be real quick! Come on!” She grabs at Zoro again and tugs harder, more insistent. 

Zoro fumbles in the direction his arm is being pulled and you slide off his leg, head hitting the deck hard. 

You jolt awake, immediately hissing in pain and grabbing at your head. 

“Whoops.” She holds back the urge to snort a laugh.

Zoro rips his arm out of her hold, “What the fuck?” He snaps at her before turning to help you.

You sit up and Zoro pushes back your hair again to assess your head.

It’s only a moment before you register that Emory is standing there and you meet her eyes in alarm. Your hand immediately wraps around Zoro’s wrist and takes it away from your head. 

He looks at you in confusion, his eyes following yours.

Emory inhales, nose flaring, and then walks away. Leaving you feeling unnerved.


End file.
